Once Upon A Wizard
by xXWinterprinceXx
Summary: All Emma ever wanted was a family to love her. Then a stranger appears to take her to a place of magic, where she meets the orphan boy Killian, among with many other friends... and foes. OUAT/HP Crossover! Eventual CaptainSwan, Snowing, OutlawQueen and others
1. Things are changing

**Ok, so this is my first fanfic. The idea has been spooking in my mind for some time now, and I've finally decided to write it down. Please let me know what you think :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Upon a Time, or Harry Potter. I only borrow their characters and places and let them have some fun.**

* * *

When Emma heard the doorbell, she had no idea it would change her entire life.

She was just getting used to her new foster family. Mother, father, and twin boys.

She liked it here, really. They were a little stiff when it came to traditions, but she would get used to it. It felt nice, actually, to pray before eating a meal, or to fill the dishwasher.

It made her feel included.

"Emma, honey, will you open the door, please?" she heard her foster mother call.

Another gesture she highly appreciated. She was entrusted with something she had rarely had the chance to do: Opening the door to her _home_.

She quickly ran down the stairs, yet trying not to be too loud because she didn't want to disturb her new family.

When she reached the door, she hesitated. She didn't want to let a stranger in. She took a quick glance through the loophole.

There was an elderly woman she had never seen before. Her dark hair was tied into a knot and she looked very severe. She was wearing a weird green and black dress, or was it a coat? But she didn't seem to be dangerous. Maybe she just had a question. Or she was at the wrong door.

Emma turned the doorknob, placing herself between the stranger and her home.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Am I speaking to Miss Emma Swan?"

Emma frowned at the strange and old-fashioned address.

"Yeah", she answered hesitantly.

The woman's thin lips curved a little into what seemed to be the attempt of a smile.

"Good afternoon, Miss Swan. I would like to talk to your parents."

* * *

"Will it eat me?" the boy asked, his voice slightly shaking, although he tried to sound confident.

"What?" his brother asked a little confused, still looking at the picture frame he held in his hands.

It was their favorite and most important possession, a picture taken at their parents' wedding. Their mother, the most beautiful bride in the world, her long, curly black hair plait around her head in the most artful manner, was wearing a blue and purple dress that stressed her deep blue eyes, something both boys had inherited. Their father wore a simple but elegant dark Dress Robe. They seemed so happy, looking at each other and then turning to the photographer.

"The monster, will it eat me?" Killian asked impatiently and turned his brother's attention away from the photograph.

"What monster? I thought you hadn't been afraid of Stripey since you were six years old!"

"I'm not talking about Stripey!" Killian protested defensively and a little embarrassed. As a young boy he had always imagined that a monster lived under his bed, but that had been ages ago. He was already eleven years old, after all!

"I'm talking about the monster in the lake! You said there was a monster in the lake!"

Liam smiled and kneeled down before him, taking his hands. "I didn't say 'monster', I said 'giant squid'. It is very peaceful, really. I even heard that once a first year fell into the water and the squid saved his life."

"Really?" Killian asked in disbelief. "That's cool!"

Liam smiled at him.

"You're nervous, aren't you? About Hogwarts?"

Killian gave him an unsure shrug.

"It's just… I mean it's really exciting, all the magic and stuff, but… It's almost too exciting. We just found a way to handle our lives here. I'm not sure I'm ready for another change."

Liam frowned at him with concern.

"Do you want to wait another year? It shouldn't be a problem, I can ask Professor French to delay…"

"No!" Killian interrupted him. "I'm going. It's my last chance to go to school with you. Besides, don't you always say that I have to get back on the horse right after falling, because if I don't, my fear will only grow? I guess it's kinda the same with this. If I don't go now, I might never go." A little quieter, he added: "And I don't want to spend another year in a muggle orphanage. Now that you're seventeen and I go to school we can finally have our own place, and I wouldn't have it any differently."

Liam smiled at him. "Me neither. Don't worry, you're never going back there, I promise! We can handle ourselves. Just the two of us. So…" He got on his feet again. "We should get going, don't you think? Next stop: Diagon Alley!"

"Liam…" Killian started before Liam could reach the chimney with the flee powder. "I was wondering… maybe…"

"What? You can ask me anything, Killian."

"I want to use dad's wand!" Their father, Bentham Jones, had died a few years ago. He had been killed by a few remaining Death Eaters, defending his sons.

After that, Liam and Killian, who was about six years younger than his brother, had lived in several muggle orphanages. Liam had gone to Hogwarts, but he had always come back during the holidays, although Killian knew he'd rather stay in the only place he called home.

But Liam had always made sure he could see Killian, his only living family member, as often as possible.

Killian remembered all the winter evenings when Liam would sneak into his room and quietly tell him stories about Hogwarts, about the teachers, the lessons, the friends he'd made, the adventures he'd had.

He was his brother, the closest thing he had to a parent, his only friend. Liam was everything to him.

Now he looked at him, both surprised and concerned.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

This was another trait that Killian loved about him. He trusted him enough to let him make his own decisions. He didn't tell him what to do; he only made sure Killian considered his choices long enough.

"Yes. He was a hero, and the wand is almost all that is left of him. I think I would be… more confident if I had it with me."

Killian noticed that Liam momentarily frowned when he talked about their dad. It startled him for a brief moment, but it was probably just because he missed him, too.

"You should know that wands are… tricky things. Using somebody else's wand could be a lot more difficult, especially since you don't have any experience."

"I'm aware", he assured him.

"Fine", Liam agreed reluctantly.

He stepped to his desk and opened a drawer. He eyed the long, crooked wand and stretched out his arm to give it to him. Before he let go of it, he said:

"Blackthorn and Dragon Heartstrings, 14 ½ inches, not very flexible. Always know your wand."

Killian nodded and carefully took it. He thought that holding it would immediately fill him with awe, but instead he felt grief and anger. It had been found near his father's dead body. Had he used it, one last time, to defend himself and his family? And how could he, Killian, fill out the big footsteps left by his father?

"Let's go now", Liam said. Killian securely stored the wand away and followed his brother through the green flames.

* * *

"I am sorry, Mrs. …"

"McGonagall. I am Professor McGonagall."

"Yes… Professor McGonagall. You are suggesting that Emma needs to go to a special school for… special children. You must excuse me, but that sounds as if you thought there was something wrong with her."

Emma sat in the armchair, slightly leaning forwards, and watched her foster parents and the strange woman talk. Her whole body was tense.

She didn't want to go away. She didn't know what this school – Hogwarts (what an idiotic name, really!) – was, but she didn't care.

All she knew was that her foster father shot her a suspicious glance over his wife's shoulder every now and then as if she wouldn't see it.

Her foster mother still eyed Professor McGonagall, and Emma knew she was close to making her leave the house.

But it was only a matter of time until she also doubted her, and then they would throw her out and she would live in the next foster home, the perfect life she had imagined here blown away by this… freak.

"No, there is nothing wrong with your daughter, I assure you. Hogwarts is a place of magic."

"Magic?" her foster father spat out. "Are you sure it's not you who needs special treatment?"

"John…" his wife began, but she turned to Professor McGonagall instead. "Maybe you should leave now."

Professor McGonagall didn't move.

"Our ministry reported that your daughter possesses magical abilities. They must have shown a few times, but none of you knew what it was. It could have been something very simple, like a light bulb flickering when she was angry or scared, or something moving without being touched. Surely you must have witnessed something that you couldn't explain."

"No." her foster father said firmly. "We did not know anything like that about our _foster_ daughter, nor did the foster home report any abnormalities."

With that last word he looked at Emma, and she felt that he was blaming _her_ , that he thought she was a freak. Tears burned in her eyes and she jumped to her feet and left the room, not willing to let anyone see her cry. It wasn't until she reached her room that she allowed the tears to run down her face.

So that's it. She would go back into the system, with another note saying 'She is such a nice girl, but it just didn't work out'. And again, it wasn't even her fault. She had done everything right. She had tried so hard to be a part of this family, as with every family she'd had been in.

She heard a soft knock on her door and quickly wiped her tears away. Her eyes must be swollen. _Damn_.

"Emma?" somebody asked quietly.

She turned the doorknob and saw Zach and Max, the twins, her nine year old foster brothers. They looked at her with big blue eyes.

"You slammed the door. You know mommy and daddy don't like that." Zach said, but he didn't sound as if he was blaming her.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just… I was a little upset."

"We thought so", Max nodded. They stepped into her room, Max sitting down on her bed, Zach in front of it.

"What's wrong?" Zach asked.

Emma closed the door and then sat down on her chair.

"It's just…" She decided to tell them the truth. They would find out eventually anyway.

"There is this strange woman who is talking to your parents right now –"

" –our parents", Max corrected her. Emma smiled at him.

"Right. She thinks I have to go to a special school. She's crazy, but now your… _our_ parents think I'm a freak and I'm afraid they will kick me out."

"They won't do that!" Zach exclaimed in shock, while Max looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"I don't want you to go!" he whispered. His brother shook his head. "Me neither!"

Emma couldn't help feeling touched by their love for her. "I don't want to go, either", she whispered.

Suddenly they heard voices in the hallway and a few moments later the front door slammed shut.

Zach jumped to his feet and took her hand.

"C'mon! It's already time for dinner! Let's help prepare it."

Max took her other hand.

"We'll show them you're not a freak!"

Emma laughed a little as they rushed down the stairs. She had to go sideways as they refused to let go of her hands.

"Okay, we're going to set the table, maybe you can help them bring everything from the kitchen?"

The twins disappeared into the dining room and Emma made her way to the kitchen. Right in front of it she stopped. Her foster parents were talking about what had happened, and she could hear their muffled voices.

"We have to trust Emma. She has done nothing so far to make us doubt her."

That was her foster mother.

" _So far_. How do you know this… woman didn't tell the truth? Think about it, Emma has been in so many foster families, yet she was always returned to the system"

 _Was returned_. As if she was a piece of furniture.

"John, don't tell me you believe this woman! All this nonsense about magic! We should have thrown her out right away."

"Of course not! But Emma has been with us for only two weeks, and we already have people like this in our house! Did you hear her? She wants to come back tomorrow and take Emma to London to buy her schoolbooks. Having Emma in our house is endangering our children!"

" _Our_ children?" Emma whispered, not able to hold back. The door swung open.

"Emma! Did you eavesdrop?"

"Emma, he didn't mean it like that", her foster mother immediately said.

"No, I think that's exactly what he meant."

Emma turned around and, for the second time today, she ran up the stairs and slammed the door. Only this time, she fell on her bed and cried into her pillow, and nobody came into her room. She was sure John stopped the twins from doing that..

Had she really believed she could have a life here? That finally, after eleven messed up years, she could find a family?

Her lamp flickered again. It had always had a loose connection. Unless…

 _It could have been something very simple, like a light bulb flickering when she was angry or scared._

Professor McGonagalls voice echoed in her head.

No, this was ridiculous. This woman had ruined her life. Which was why she wouldn't be here anymore tomorrow.

When Professor McGonagall came to her home… _to this house_ again, she would only find a very confused family that couldn't explain the absence of the girl they had adopted not long ago, but would surely be happy to be rid of this problem.

Emma was the problem. So Emma would be gone.


	2. Diagon Alley

The first rays on sunlight broke through the darkness and woke Emma. She blinked a few times, trying to fall asleep again, but eventually she surrendered and sat up.

She groaned quietly. Her back and neck arched from having slept on a bench, and a bag wasn't exactly the most comfortable pillow.

It was still early, it was summer, after all, and the sun rose at times when she would usually be lying in her bed, sleeping. Only that she didn't have a bed. Not anymore.

She looked around. There was nobody on the streets.

Good. Emma got to her feet and stretched. She would have to get something to eat.

She turned around to grab her bag and jumped back with a silent cry of surprise on her lips.

There was a striped cat lying on the bench. She was sure it hadn't been there before.

"You scared me!" She shot the cat a disapproving look and she could have sworn the cat copied it. Which was, of course, impossible. She was going nuts.

She lifted her bag and started walking away from it.

"Miss Swan", suddenly someone behind her said.

She spun around and her jaw almost hit the ground when she saw Professor McGonagall sitting on the bench, on the exact same spot where the cat had been. She was wearing the same coat she had had yesterday, now paired with a freaky pointy black hat.

She really looked like a witch from a cartoon.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you stalking me?"

"I couldn't let you sleep on the street alone and without protection, surely you understand that."

"I don't need… protection, especially not from you! You're the one who ruined my life in the first place! How did you even get here?" She looked around. "There's nowhere to hide!"

"I have my methods. I know that you must be upset and confused, but I can explain everything to you."

She tapped on the bench beside her. Emma eyed her suspiciously. She didn't seem to have any weapons; neither did she look physically strong. What harm could it do? Her life was screwed up anyway.

Emma sat down on the edge of the bench, as far away from her as possible.

"What I told your parents yesterday was true", she began. "You are a witch."

"There are no witches", Emma replied coldly.

McGonagall blinked and suddenly turned into the very same striped cat Emma had seen a few minutes ago. Studying her face more closely, Emma noticed that the pattern around her eyes matched her glasses. The cat eyed her for a few moments, as if to make sure the impression lasted, and turned back into a person.

"How…"

"Magic", she simply explained. "Do you believe me now?"

Emma still couldn't think clearly. That woman in front of her had just turned into a cat…

"Yeah… I guess…"

What else could she say? She had seen many magical tricks, but there was no way on earth how a woman could pretend to turn into a cat and back right in front of her eyes. After all, it wasn't the first weird thing that happened to her.

"But… I have never turned into a cat."

"Magic comes in many different forms. Turning yourself into an animal is very advanced magic that only few master. It takes years of practice. Nevertheless, there are many easier, but nonetheless impressive and useful spells I and the other teachers can teach you, if you come to Hogwarts."

"Show me more. Something of the easier stuff I could learn", she demanded. She didn't care if she was rude. She just wanted to make sure she wasn't being deceived.

Professor McGonagall looked around if anyone was watching them, then she pulled out a wand (a wand!) and made a swift movement towards Emma's bag. It started flying.

Emma waved her hands around it, almost expecting to find invisible ropes, but there weren't any. The bag went lower and gently landed back on the bench.

"So… if I go there… will I have to go to a new foster home?"

"I am afraid this can't be avoided. But you will get the chance to spend the entire term at Hogwarts. You will only have to return for your summer holidays."

Emma sighed. Well, that was still better than the alternative.

"I'm going. So, where do I get a wand?"

Killian and Liam left Gringotts Wizarding Bank after they had taken some money from their family vault. They didn't have much left, but Liam was in his last year and would be able to start work next summer.

"Can we get the books first, Liam?" he asked. "Liam?"

His brother's gaze was fixed on something he couldn't see.

"Of course we can", he suddenly said. "But first we should say hello to Professor McGonagall."

"Professor McGonagall? She's here?" Killian asked in disbelief. He had heard many stories about the strict yet great teacher.

Liam led him to a woman that was standing in front of Ollivander's. She looked exactly like Killian had thought, very tidy and severe, but there was a small sparkle of warmth in her eyes.

"Professor McGonagall, it is such a surprise to see you here!"

"You too, Mr. Jones. And this is, I assume, your brother?"

"Yes, Killian. He is starting this year."

"And you have been made Head Boy, I hear?"

"Yes, I was so surprised when I opened the letter! I never thought Professor French would choose me."

"Well, you should have. Your grades and your ratings as a prefect were more than outstanding last year. That you didn't anticipate it only shows that you are a role model for your house."

Liam blushed and quickly changed the subject.

"Professor, I never got a chance to ask you something. When we were transforming rats into frying pans…"

Killian stopped listening. He looked around. Everywhere were witches and wizards. It felt really good after having lived in the muggle world for so long.

Seeing all the shops, broomsticks and just normal people talking about normal things filled him with joy.

No more strange muggle electronics, and he didn't have to whisper if he wanted to talk about something magical.

"Professor McGonagall, I… oh, sorry, I didn't see you were talking to someone."

Killian turned at the unfamiliar voice. A blonde girl of his age had just left Ollivander's and was now standing in the door.

"Ah, Miss Swan, very good. Did your wand find you?" McGonagall asked her.

"Yeah. It was kinda strange though, holding all these other wands and waiting for something to happen."

"Buying a wand is a very serious matter, Miss Swan. Only your own wand will allow you to accomplish your spells accurately. Miss Swan, this is Liam Jones. He is in his last year at Hogwarts and our Head Boy. I have to fill up my supplies; he will show you around in the meantime. Maybe he can even tell you more about Hogwarts."

McGonagall left her with them and disappeared in the mass of people.

The girl seemed to be a little confused. "Yeah. Sure. No problem", she muttered.

Liam turned to her.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of you. That is my brother Killian, he is also starting this year. What do you still need?"

"Everything except the wand. There were a lot of books on the list."

Liam nodded.

"Killian and I also need a few books. Flourish & Blotts is right over there." He pointed at the bookshop and led the way.

"So… Swan… why were you with Professor McGonagall?" Killian asked after walking a while in awkward silence.

"I have a name. It's Emma."

Killian shrugged. "Swan suits you well. So?"

"Because until yesterday I didn't know anything about this."

"But why aren't you here with your parents?"

Emma shrugged. "I had a few problems with my foster parents" she said quietly.

"Foster…? Oh. I'm sorry. We're orphans, too, Liam and I. But he's seventeen now, so we can live alone."

Emma turned her head in a surprised manner. "You are?"

Before Killian could answer they entered the shop.

"Okay, so the two of you need the same books. We will meet back here as soon as you have found everything, okay?"

When they had bought everything they needed and were strolling through Diagon Alley and eating ice-cream, Killian pulled at Liam's sleeve.

"Liam, do you think… could… could I get a pet?"

"Why not?" Liam answered. "I know you would take good care of it. It's just… I can't buy you an owl, Killian. They are the most expensive. And I am sure you wouldn't want a toad. So it would have to be a cat, and you can use my owl whenever you need to."

"Sure!" Killian nodded enthusiastically.

"Ah, Miss Swan!" they suddenly heard McGonagall call. "Did you get everything?"

"Yes, everything I need"

"Well, thank you so much, Mr. Jones and Mr. Jones. I will see you at Hogwarts", the professor said as she led Emma away.

"I'll see you there, too", Emma called over her shoulder.

Liam and Killian watched as they disappeared in the bustling mass of people.

"So, how about that cat now?"


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts

Emma sat on a bench on platform 9 ¾. There were barely people here; after all it was just after 8 am. The impressive red train in front of her wouldn't depart until 11am.

She scowled as she thought about her new foster home. It wasn't the worst she had been in – at least she got something to eat twice a day – but it most certainly wasn't the best, either.

The matron hadn't had time to bring her to London. She understood that, really. And it wasn't her fault the only train in the morning arrived three and a half hours early.

But still – did she really have to search her entire suitcase? Emma barely managed to hide all the magical stuff – which was almost everything in there – and replace it by a few old normal schoolbooks.

After what had happened with her last family, all the matron knew was that Hogwarts was an expensive private border school that her parents must have paid for before she was born and they suddenly decided they didn't want her anymore.

It wasn't the best story she had ever come up with, she had to admit that, so maybe it wasn't surprising the matron didn't believe her.

She had asked a lot of questions about Hogwarts, where it was located, for example. Of course, Emma couldn't answer that, not only because the matron wasn't supposed to know, but also because she didn't know herself.

After a little research on the internet without finding anything about that school she grew even more suspicious. Emma pretended she wasn't entirely sure how the school's name was spelled; secretly hoping September 1st would come quickly.

It didn't, of course. The last month had felt like an eternity, but now she was finally here.

She knew that nothing would ever be the same again. And that was a good thing.

Despite having to wait three hours on a lonely platform, she felt happy. Maybe for the first time since… when? Forever?

That wasn't exactly true. She had been happy with her last foster family. It still hurt to think of them. She had been happy in the Diagon Alley, which blew away her last doubts about the existence of the magical world.

She had been happy a lot of times. Maybe not as much as other children, but still.

Only this was different. This was final. She would be going to Hogwarts now.

She didn't have to worry about being the perfect child for her foster family, because otherwise she would end up in the next foster home.

She didn't have to worry about spending the next month in another foster home, trying to hide what school she was attending.

The biggest change of her life was finally within reach. There was nothing in her way, and it felt so real now. From the moment she had stepped through the magical barrier hiding this platform from the non-magical world she had felt free and calm. She finally knew where she belonged.

Emma glanced at the big clock hanging on the wall. Still two and a half hours to wait. The doors of the train were still closed.

She dug a little in her suitcase and picked the first book she found. It was _Magical Theory_.

She had quickly glanced through all of her new schoolbooks, yet she hadn't really read one, knowing the matron or another kid could enter her room at any time and see her.

She spent the next hour reading. The book itself was pretty boring, but she was fascinated with the world she would soon enter. She looked up when the first families appeared on the platform.

The train opened its doors and some men in uniforms started storing away the luggage. Emma searched in her suitcase for the handbag she intended to take with her on the train. She took a little money, just in case, her wand, even though she didn't know any spells, and the book she had been reading. She didn't know how long the journey would take.

She was among the first to enter the train and quickly found herself an empty cabin. The train was a lot more comfortable than the one she had taken to London; the seats were clean and soft and it didn't smell like alcohol.

She sat at the window and watched the other students say goodbye to their parents. It made her feel a little sad, as she didn't have anyone to say goodbye to. Some students entered the train to take their seats and then left again to return to their parents. She could hear the bustling noise in the corridor, but nobody entered her cabin.

She grew tired of watching and went back to reading, but she quickly closed the book again. She wanted to do something. She wanted to find other students to talk to, but she knew she wasn't good at making friends.

In that moment the cabin door opened and a brunette, pixie cut girl looked inside.

"Sorry… do you mind if I sit here?" she asked.

Emma shrugged. "Sure."

The girl took the other seat at the window and placed a cage with an owl next to her.

"Are the other cabins taken?" Emma asked.

"What? Oh no, but I didn't want to sit alone", the girl replied. "Are you a first year, too?"

She nodded.

"I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard. It's nice to meet you, ...?"

"Emma. Emma Swan."

"Emma." Mary Margaret sighed and leaned back in her seat.

"It's so exciting, isn't it? We're finally going to Hogwarts! I've been waiting for this day for years!"

Emma looked at her book. Why hadn't she thought about that? Of course the other kids would know a lot more about this world, which meant she would be an outsider after all.

"Well… I haven't. Didn't really know about all this until a month ago."

"Really?" Mary Margaret seemed to be surprised. "Are you muggle-born?"

"Muggle-born…?" Emma asked confused.

"That means your parents are from the non-magical world", Mary Margaret explained quickly. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, it happens a lot. Some children just have magical abilities, even if it doesn't run in their family."

Emma frowned. "Well, if I knew my parents I could probably answer that, but I have no idea."

"You don't know your parents!" Mary Margaret seemed shocked. "That must be awful! Did they die when you were young?"

"Don't know. They left me in a blanket in some forest near a road, so it rather looks like they just didn't want me."

Emma looked down. She didn't like talking about this, especially not with people from a clearly loving family, like Mary Margaret.

"I don't believe that. There must be another explanation. Did you look for them?"

Emma appreciated Mary Margaret's attempt on making her feel better, but really, this was a little too naïve for her liking.

"How? I don't know anything about them."

Thankfully, the cabin door opened again and a few other students stepped in. They all seemed to be around their age, so Emma guessed they were new students just like them.

They exchanged shy greetings. Mary Margaret placed the cage with her owl on her lap as everyone arranged their stuff.

"So", Mary Margaret started. "I'm Mary Margaret and this is Emma. Who are you?"

Their names were Elsa, David and Regina. They were all first years, and much to Emma's relief, David was – what word had Mary Margaret used? – muggle-born. At least she wasn't the only one who had no idea of what lay ahead.

The train suddenly moved and the other children started waving out the window.

Suddenly the door opened again and Emma saw Liam nudge Killian inside, who was pressing a fluffy brown kitten to his chest.

Seeing him immediately filled her with relief. At least she knew somebody. Also, Killian could probably understand her better than the others. They were all going to school, but Killian and Emma already knew it would be their home.

He gave her a shy smile and sat down in the free corner next to David. Emma could sense his nervousness and introduced him to the others. He gave her a thankful nod.

"What's your cat's name?" She asked.

"Leia" he answered.

Emma couldn't help but chuckle. She hadn't pictured him to be a Star Wars fan.

"So… what house do you think you will be in?" Mary Margaret asked.

Emma noticed that it was the cheerful brunette who kept the conversation going. David seemed to be just as confused as she was, but the others apparently immediately understood the question.

"My mother's family has a long tradition in Slytherin", Regina started. "I have an older half-sister there, although we don't really get along that well."

"Slytherin?" Mary Margaret gasped. "Isn't that where…"

She didn't finish the sentence as everyone except Emma and David seemed to understand.

"There's nothing wrong with Slytherin", Killian said defensively. "My father was in Slytherin, too, and he was a hero!"

"So… do you want to be in Slytherin, like him?" Elsa asked.

Killian shrugged. "I don't know. My mother was in Ravenclaw. My brother's a Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor is certainly also great." After a pause, he said: "It would be cool to be in the same house as my brother, I think."

"Hufflepuff?" Regina asked in disbelief. "And you blame me for wanting to be a Slytherin."

Before Killian and Regina could start of a fight, Elsa interrupted them.

"I don't know, either. I guess I'll just see where they sort me. What about you?"

The last question was directed towards Mary Margaret, who said she would be content with either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Regina snorted at the first one.

When they asked Emma and David and realized they hadn't been able to follow their conversation for the past fifteen minutes, they quickly started explaining what the houses were and stood for, everyone interrupting the other.

In the end Emma and David didn't really know more, but they had all had a good laugh.

In the early afternoon a woman with a trolley offered them to buy sweets. The others decided Emma and David had to taste them all, so they threw their money together to buy a little of everything in the assortment.

Just as they argued about what to give them first, the door opened again and a boy and a girl looked inside.

"Sorry… I know it's already full here, but… we were thrown out of our cabin by some nasty Slytherins", the boy said.

"See?" Mary Margaret turned to Regina.

"Well, there are idiots in every house", the brunette shrugged.

"I am sure we can make some space for you", Elsa assured them and they all squeezed closer together.

"Thank you", the girl said. "I'm Belle, by the way, and this is Robin."

"I see you bought a lot of sweets", Robin commented.

Killian explained the situation and Robin seemed interested.

"Okay, then you should start with something simple. May I? This is a Jelly Slug."

He pulled out something that indeed was a gummy candy shaped like slug. It didn't even move. Emma was slightly disappointed. She had expected more of magical sweets.

"Ew", Regina complained. "Who bought them?"

"I like them", Killian shrugged.

Emma bit off the head. It was really very tasty. It tasted a lot better than the similar candy in the non-magical world.

David, however, didn't seem to like it. He preferred the Cauldron Cakes they tried next. Emma had a feeling they wouldn't be her favorites, though.

After they had also tried Liquorice Wands Regina demanded they try the 'real stuff'.

She pulled out a small package and reached into it, giving both of them something that was shaped like a bean. Everyone tensed, waiting for them to eat it, and Emma wondered she would grow a peak if she did.

She carefully bit down on one end. "Tasty", she said surprised. "Like a strawberry."

The others seemed to be disappointed. Encouraged by Emma's words David bit down on his bean.

"Yuck!" he yelled. "It's nothing like strawberry at all! Rather foul eggs!"

Everyone started laughing and Regina turned the package so they could see 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans' written across it.

After all of them had tried a few more of them – Emma's included steak, hazelnut and sadly also salt and wood – Robin decided they finally try his favorite sweets, chocolate frogs.

"Just don't let them hop away!" Elsa warned them as she passed each of them one.

It turned out she meant what she said. These chocolate frogs really looked and moved as if they were alive, which was why Emma hesitated to eat hers after she had caught it. She carefully bit down on it and was relieved to find that it tasted and felt like ordinary chocolate.

"Who have you got?" Belle asked and quickly explained that there were cards of famous witches and wizards inside the boxes. David had a wizard called Agrippa, while Emma had Merlin.

The other children also each ate a chocolate frog. Robin, who seemed to have almost every chocolate card currently available, desperately tried to get Regina to trade her Babayaga for his Dzou Yen, his eleventh, as he said.

"I have Dumbledore!" Elsa said, which earned her a few approving looks and a distracted 'I have fifteen' by Robin.

Emma asked her to let her read the description. Obviously, this Dumbledore-guy was well known, so she figured next time she'd better know who he was, too.

Killian silently passed her his card.

"You can have it. I don't collect them", he said quietly.

Emma frowned at him. He suddenly seemed so quiet, evading her gaze. She looked at the card. It was an evil witch named Morgana.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, hoping the others wouldn't hear her over Robin and Regina's debate, who were still arguing about their cards.

Killian shook his head and looked at the wall beside him, absently stroking the sleeping kitten in his lap.

* * *

Killian sighed in relief when the train arrived at their destination. For the rest of the journey he could fell Emma's gaze on him. He didn't want to talk about it, at least not when everyone else could hear them. He knew it was stupid, and of these people, Emma was the only one who might understand.

He quickly stood up, clutching his cat to his chest, and left the train. A man that big he could only be Hagrid called for the first years and led them to the lake. Killian tried not to think about the squid when he stepped into one of the boats.

He sat down and looked into the water. The lantern on the boat wasn't enough to see anything in the black water. Was there a movement in those depths?

He almost dropped Leia into the lake when the boat suddenly started shaking.

"Sorry", Emma mumbled as she sat down next to him. "Almost slipped."

Killian knew she would interrogate him.

"Look, I know why you're here…" he started.

"I'm here because I want to cross the lake and finally see Hogwarts, yes", she answered, busily wringing out her coat that must have come in touch with the water when she entered the boat.

The boats magically started moving once everyone was seated and they remained in silence.

"You know, you don't _have_ to tell me", Emma started after a while. "It's absolutely fine to sit here and sulk. I don't mind."

"I am _not_ sulking" Killian grumbled.

"Of course not."

Emma started stroking Leia who had woken up and started to adventurously wander around in the boat. The kitten purred loudly and rubbed its head against her.

"Such a stubborn idiot, isn't he?" she whispered to the cat, loud enough for him to hear. He rolled his eyes.

"It's my mother", he finally said.

Emma suddenly looked up in surprise. "What about her?" she asked carefully.

"Her name was Morgana" Killian answered quietly. "Of course she wasn't _that_ Morgana, the evil witch on the card that lived a thousand years ago. She wasn't evil. More like the opposite. I don't remember much of her. I was very young when she…"

He swallowed, frantically rubbing the corner of his coat between his thumb and his index finger.

"I'm sorry" Emma whispered.

"I know it's stupid. It's just a card, and it's not even her. But still… seeing her name, and then on the card of an evil witch… I just… Usually it doesn't upset me at all, I have seen that card many times, but lately I have been thinking a lot about my parents, now that I'm starting school. All the others had their family on the platform."

"I know" Emma mumbled. "I have been thinking about mine, too. I don't even know if they were magical or if I am… muggle-born."

Killian shrugged. "Don't worry about that part. Your blood status doesn't matter, except maybe to a few conservative pure-bloods, and it doesn't say anything about your magical abilities."

"That's good" Emma said relieved. "But still… I want to know. Maybe they even attended this school!"

"Maybe you will know one day" Killian said.

Emma sighed. "You don't believe that yourself, do you?"

He was saved from having to answer by a series of gasps from the other students. Killian looked up, and there, in front of him, was Hogwarts.

The big castle majestically stood at the shore of the lake, its numerous towers soaring into the sky. Hundreds, no, thousands of windows shining through the night.

"That is Hogwarts?" Emma gasped at his right.

"That is Hogwarts" he answered, a little taken aback by the sight himself.

Liam had _told_ him that Hogwarts was big, but still, seeing it made it so much more… real.

"Wow" Emma murmured.

"Yeah"

* * *

They followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall. There were four tables for the students, most of which were already there, and one for the teachers. In the middle of the teachers' table sat a man on a golden, throne-like chair. When they arrived in front of him, he rose to his feet.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, students!" he said after the Great Hall had turned quiet. "Another school year has begun. For some of you it is the first. I am very happy to welcome my own daughter to Hogwarts this year, Belle."

"Oh no, father, why?" Emma turned at the quiet whine and saw Belle's pained face.

"We will begin with the sorting ceremony now."

Professor McGonagall placed an old hat on a chair and the Great Hall went quiet.

"What does this old hat mean?" Emma asked Killian.

In that moment, the hat moved. Something that could as well be a mouth moved and the hat started singing.

It seemed to tell Hogwarts's story. When it sang about the houses, she paid attention:

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave of heart,_

 _Their daring nerve and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you're a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your truest friends,_

 _Those cunning folks use every means,_

 _To achieve their ends._

That was really helpful. She still had no idea where she wanted to be, but at least now she knew that it wasn't your ancestry that decided in which house you were placed, but your character.

She suddenly realized it would be naïve to hope that their entire group from the train would be sorted into the same house. She looked back over her shoulder. Mary Margaret gave her a reassuring smile.

Emma hoped she would at least be in the same house as the brunette. She glanced to her right. And Killian.

Professor McGonagall interrupted her thoughts by reading the first name.

"Arendelle, Elsa."

Elsa stepped forward.

"Good luck", Emma whispered and earned a smile.

Elsa sat on the chair. Emma saw her gaze flicker over the hall, and then Professor McGonagall covered the girl's head with the hat. It was so big Emma couldn't even see Elsa's eyes.

She wondered what that would be like. For a while nothing happened. Then the hat opened its strange mouth again.

"Ravenclaw!" it shouted.

Elsa smiled at them. The table on the right hand side of the aisle applauded and Elsa joined them. A few other students were sorted before Professor McGonagall called Mary Margaret's name.

The hat remained in silence for a while. Then it proclaimed the brunette a Gryffindor.

She smiled and whispered 'it's really not that bad' when she passed the others, before she sat down at the table on the right.

Belle was also made a Ravenclaw and Robin a Hufflepuff. The next in line was Killian.

Emma reassuringly touched his arm as his name was called. He looked back at her, worry in his eyes, then he sat down on the chair and soon the hat covered his eyes.

Killian seemed to be hard to sort. The hat waited almost ten minutes before it made a decision.

"Ravenclaw!" it shouted and once again, the table at the right side of the passage applauded. Killian wished her good luck and joined Elsa and Belle.

Emma couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Killian and Mary Margaret were not in the same house. She hoped she would at least be with one of them.

She really wished this wouldn't take so long. Regina and David were sorted soon after him, Regina in Slytherin and David in Gryffindor, but they had only just passed the letter 'N'.

After what seemed to be an eternity Professor McGonagall finally called her name.

Her feet shook as she stepped forward and she feared they might betray her. She hadn't realized how far away the chair was. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat when she finally sat down and the hat covered most part of her head.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted right away.

Relief washed over her as she joined Mary Margaret and David. She waved her hand at Killian and Elsa, who were facing her at the Ravenclaw table.

"Emma, I am so glad you are with us!" Mary Margaret said. "The hat really made its choice quickly!"

"Speaking of which… What took you so long?" Emma asked curiously.

"Oh, you know, the hat talked the whole time about me fitting in both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but it put me here eventually."

"Wait, the hat talked to you?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"It didn't talk to you?" a blonde first year asked.

"Nope."

"Me neither" a brunette girl shrugged. "I guess it just didn't have anything to say to us."

"Emma, these are Ruby and Ashley" Mary Margaret introduced them.

After the last students had been sorted, Professor French clapped his hands and suddenly the tables were filled with food.

Emma didn't know where to look first.

The table was filled with all manners of strange food that she had never seen, but she also spotted a few familiar things, like a bowl with potatoes.

After exchanging a quick glance with David, she shrugged and put everything within her reach on her plate.

After the dessert had been served (Emma hadn't thought it possible to eat more, but the chocolate tart had been too inviting) people started chatting loudly and making new friends.

Ashley told them how her stepmother had make her work in the house and sleep in the kitchen all the time, because she hated her for her magic, which was an abnormality in her eyes. Her father had been magical, though.

Ruby lived with her grandmother in a cottage on a hill, and magic had always been normal for her.

David lived on a farm with his mother and twin brother, who had been sorted into Slytherin (and it appeared David didn't like him very much).

After a while Professor McGonagall and three other teachers stood up and started passing notes to the children.

McGonagall came to their table, and when she reached Emma she saw it was a timetable.

"History of magic in the first lessons on Monday!" she heard an older student groan. "That's a _nice_ way to start the week!"

She looked at her own timetable. Her first subject on Mondays was Transfiguration, which sounded exciting.

She didn't know much about the subjects, and so everything sounded exciting, even Magical Theory.

There was a note saying they would even have _Flying_ lessons in a few weeks' time!

"What does the 'S' in the corner mean?" David asked, and Emma was glad that she, already having studied the whole timetable, could answer this.

"Look, there are small letters above all the subjects, 'S', 'H' and 'R'. I guess they stand for the other houses."

David made a face.

"That means I have Transfiguration with James. And… History of Magic and Defense against Dark Arts."

"But tomorrow is Thursday, so our first lesson is gonna be Charms with the Ravenclaws", Ashley cheered him up.

Emma smiled. Charms really sounded interesting.

After the prefects had taken them to their common rooms and showed them the dormitories, Emma sat on her bed looking out of the window.

It was really beautiful up here. She shared this room with Mary Margaret, Ruby, Ashley and a read-haired girl named Ariel.

When Ashley mumbled 'Good Night' and covered herself with her blanket, Emma realized how tired she was herself.

When she buried her head in the soft pillow, all she could think was that now everything was going to be fine.


	4. Swan Cakes

**Sorry it took me so long, I was kinda busy these last weeks. This one is extra long!**

* * *

Time passed quickly in Hogwarts. Killian still felt as if he had just arrived, and yet somehow it was already October.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he pronounced for the hundredth of times.

Nothing happened. Not that he had expected it would. It never did. Not one person from his class had managed to make their feather fly yet, and they'd been on it for weeks. Well, Ruby's had grown dark grey fur, but that was it.

He almost suspected that Professor Hopper had given them the wrong spell to teach them patience. After all, with a wand as powerful as his Dad's, he had to succeed, didn't he? After all, his parents both had had powerful magic, and Liam was extremely talented, too.

 _But maybe that's just it_ a voice in his head teased. _Maybe all that power and talent was given to them, and you got nothing._

He had actually wondered if he was a squib.

That, of course, couldn't be true; he had produced accidental magic as a child, and, after all, been invited to Hogwarts. He just worried that maybe it wasn't _enough_.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Emma said next to him. When nothing happed, she flung the feather from the table with a frustrated sigh.

"It's not working", she complained.

"You just have to keep trying, Emma. All of you."

Hopper picked up the feather and placed it on their desk. Then he drew his own wand, made a swift movement while saying the magical words, and the feather instantly lifted over their heads.

"See? It takes time, but it works. There will be no homework, but it would be good if you kept practicing. See you on Thursday."

They left the classroom together, but when Ruby started questioning Emma about their DADA homework, Killian fell back. "See you this afternoon for chess!" he shouted. It was then that Mary Margaret caught up to him.

"Wait" she said, grabbing his sleeve to slow him down.

He looked at her, confused. He knew that she was friends with Emma, but he rarely spoke to her.

"Look, I know you and Emma are friends, so I thought you should know this. Emma's birthday is on Sunday."

"What? This Sunday?" Killian asked confused. "But…why didn't she say anything?"

Mary Margaret shrugged. "You know her. She has these walls… I only know because her foster home sent her some documents, something she had to fill out, I don't know, I saw them when I fetched something from the dormitory for her. Anyway, I think we should show her that she has friends who care about her now, you know? Give her nice presents, maybe take her somewhere, we can't throw a big surprise party, but I doubt she would want that anyway."

Killian struggled to sort the information she was giving him. Why did she have to talk so fast?

"I think that's a great idea" he said. "Thanks for telling me. I'll… think of something."

He spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what he might give her. The ideas that came to his mind were either not personal enough or impossible for him to make.

He wanted his present to be special. Something to symbolize the connection between them, to show her that he truly understood her. But, again, it couldn't be too big, or everyone would think he had a crush on her. It had to be the perfect gift a really good friend would give her.

He didn't even pay attention in History of Magic. Granted, it was the most boring subject ever, but still he usually tried to be a good student. This time he made numerous little drawings on his parchment, not hearing a word of what Binns was saying. Thankfully, the Professor didn't seem to notice.

It was that evening when he lay in his bed that he realized he had forgotten his chess party with Emma.

* * *

She wasn't angry. One of her best friends had obviously forgotten her, but hey, that happened. He was surely busy with something utterly important. Probably on his way to the Great Hall at this exact moment. And he would have a damn well excuse for being one hour late.

But nothing happened. Killian didn't show up. Just when Emma was about to go back to the common room, a Ravenclaw first year approached her.

"Sitting here all alone?" he asked. He had a queer way of speaking, as if he was telling her something secret and mysterious.

Emma shrugged. "Not sitting anymore" she said, getting to her feet and grabbing her chessmen.

"Wait. If you want to play chess, I'd be happy to be your opponent."

Emma looked at him, and shrugged.

"Why not." She sat down again while the other boy got a chess board and a set of chessmen from his bag.

"You can be white", he told her. He moved the board the right way and they started placing chessmen. His turned black when they touched the board, while hers turned white.

The boy – August – was an extremely good player. She was used to losing to Killian (after all he had only taught her the game a few weeks ago), but against August she didn't stand a chance at all.

The chatted while playing, and Emma soon found that she was having a great time. She didn't need Killian. If he didn't want to spend time with her, fine. He was an idiot.

But when August mentioned how he and his father used to dress up for Halloween and watch a traditional set of movies, she felt sad.

He asked her what she did, and she just told him she didn't really like Halloween.

The truth was the foster homes didn't allow them to do anything, not even dress up. Once, when she had been in a family, she had actually dressed up, walked around with the other children and asked for 'trick or treat', and she had been happy, but one week later she'd been back in the system, and now it was just one more painful memory.

August couldn't believe she didn't celebrate Halloween, and he spent the rest of that party trying to convince her it was the greatest holiday ever, after Christmas and his birthday.

Christmas and her birthday were probably the only holidays that ranked even lower for her than Halloween.

She didn't say anything anymore, but the Ravenclaw student didn't seem to notice, as he went on and on and on.

After that party she told him she was tired and went back to the common room. She was the first, the others were all out. When she lay awake she wondered again where Killian had been.

Because despite everything she tried to convince herself of, Killian _was_ the only one who really understood her. Even if he had a brother and she had no one, he had still spent most of his time alone in the system during the school term.

He knew what it was like to celebrate Halloween in the system, or Christmas, or even your birthday.

Tomorrow she would kick some dark-haired Ravenclaws butt, and it wasn't gonna be August.

Still, when she fell asleep she felt lonelier than she'd ever been during her time in Hogwarts.

* * *

The next day he came to Emma in the Great Hall and apologized for forgetting their match.

She eyed him coldly and shrugged. "It's fine", she said, although her voice made it clear that it wasn't. "I'm sure you were busy."

"I – I was." He said. "Really. But still. It shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry."

Emma sighed.

"It's alright. Just don't let it happen again. So, how about this afternoon?"

Killian bit his lip. "I have Flying lessons. But… maybe tomorrow?"

Emma swallowed her last bite of toast. "No, I get it. Don't even bother."

She got to her feet and left the Great Hall, not even looking at him anymore.

Killian looked up and down the Gryffindor table. Mary Margaret and the other girls from their year were not there, they'd probably eaten earlier. David was missing as well.

He walked back to his table and sat down next to Belle. He wasn't really hungry. Mostly because he was tired. He had spent half the night lying awake and trying to think of a present for Emma.

He was just forcing himself to take a bite of toast when his brother came over to him.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

Killian shrugged. "Tired" he mumbled.

Liam smiled. "Been reading all night again? Listen, Hopper just told me we're going to Hogsmeade this Saturday, so if you need anything, tell me."

Killian shrugged. "I'll think about it" he said.

Liam had told him a lot about the lovely little village. He'd often brought him treats from Honeyduke's or sugar quills from Zonko's.

He could ask him to buy a present for Emma, he suddenly thought, but he quickly pushed that idea away. Ask your brother to buy something for your friend's birthday. How personal was that?

He found it hard to concentrate during his lessons. He almost fell from his broom, although he was usually a splendid flyer. Well, as splendid as first years go, anyway.

The next few days weren't any better. On Thursday he was actually considering to get her something from Hogsmeade after all. In the evening he was sitting in the common room, trying to focus on his homework while his thoughts were actually elsewhere.

Belle was reading a book next to him.

At times she would smile or even laugh quietly, so he figured it must be funny.

"What's that about?" he asked.

Belle looked up, confused. "Oh, that? It's uh, an adventure book. The main character is an animagus who can turn into a fox, and he always gets into trouble…"

"FOX CAKES!" Killian suddenly shouted. "Of course! Thanks, Belle, you're brilliant!"

He stormed out of the common room, not even bothering to put his quill and parchment back into his bag. He needed to find Liam, now.

On the fifth floor, he collided with someone. It was Emma.

"Oh… hey" he said.

She eyed him coldly. "Hi."

Guilt suddenly stung him. He hadn't really talked to her since Monday. Sure, he had been busy coming up with a present for her birthday, but she didn't know that. She probably thought he didn't want to be friends anymore.

"Hey, uhm, great to see you. How are you?"

"Fine" she snapped. Then she sighed. "Do you have time?"

"Oh, I was just about to see my brother, it's important, but…" he started, but Emma didn't let him finish.

"You know what, never mind!"

She stormed past him and Killian wished her birthday would come sooner. He would make it all up to her, she would see…

He found Liam in the Great Hall, playing Gobstones with a few friends. When he saw him, he stopped the match and led him aside.

"I need your help" Killian said.

"How can I be of service?"

"I… I don't remember much of our mother. I was only four years old when she…" he swallowed and lowered his gaze.

Liam seemed concerned.

"She would be so proud of you, Killian" he began, but Killian interrupted him

"I know. I mean, that's not why I'm here. One of the things I do remember is that she once made fox cakes for my birthday. I don't know if you remember. They were shaped like foxes and really delicious… I don't remember every detail."

Liam nodded.

"She didn't just make them for one birthday, but two, and Christmas, and Easter. You loved them so much. Foxes were your favorite animals."

Killian smiled sadly. "I didn't even know that. Anyway, I need the recipe. Emma's birthday is on Sunday and we're planning on doing something special for her, since she, you know, doesn't really have anyone. I thought I could make swan cakes, what do you think?"

His brother grinned. "I think that is a great idea!"

* * *

Emma returned to the common room alone that evening, as every day for the past week. Mary Margaret and Ruby were always god knew where, even the other girls from her dormitory stayed out way longer than was even allowed. David was either already in bed when she came, or also had better things to do. Not even Killian had time for her these days.

 _So that's what friends are for_ , she thought bitterly. She had spent the day with Elsa and August. She really liked the two of them, even if August tended to behave overly mysterious, but they couldn't make her forget the hurt she felt over her other friends' behavior.

Besides, they were each other's best friends, which made her feel like an intruder. They'd apparently known each other since childhood, and now being in the same house grown even closer.

They often laughed about old stories that she couldn't relate to, or talked about people she didn't know, like Elsa's sister Anna, or her magical snowman Olaf.

And once she passed the Fat Lady, there was no one she could talk to. Her evenings were left to brooding over her homework alone instead of doing them with Ruby and Mary Margaret, or even Killian in the afternoons, which was definitely more fun.

She also noticed her assignments didn't turn out as good as she wanted. She couldn't concentrate, and there were also things that she didn't understand, that someone else would usually explain to her.

That was another benefit of working in groups, they all had their preferences and weaknesses, that way they could help each other.

She closed _Magical Drafts and Potions._ She just didn't get the text she was supposed to read. She knew Killian would be able to help her. Maybe she wouldn't even need his help if she didn't worry about so much other stuff right now.

She packed her things together and went up to the dormitory although it wasn't even dark yet. She wanted to be alone.

There she fetched a neatly folded paper from her trunk. It was an enrollment for a new foster home. Her old one had apparently kicked her out the moment she got on the train, and now the one she had been transferred to needed her personal data.

Why they couldn't get it from the system, she didn't know. But organization had never been their strength.

She sighed, grabbed the paper and left for the Owlery. Usually she would have asked to borrow Snow White, Mary Margaret's snowy owl, but she hadn't told her friends about her transfer.

She had wanted to, but then they'd started to distance themselves from her.

So she would just have to use one of the school owls. She picked a giant eagle owl and sent him flying away. He would have the least problems with bigger birds or storms, she figured. She still didn't entirely trust this owl thing.

On her way back to the Gryffindor Tower she heard a cat meow. First she didn't really pay attention, after all a lot of students brought cats, but then she heard it again. It sounded miserable and desperate, so she looked around.

She found the kitten in a corridor, limping. One glance was enough to recognize Leia, Killian's pet. She called her name and the scared kitten tried to crawl away at first.

It took Emma a while to calm her down enough so she could check her paws. She quickly found the source of Leia's pain; a thorn was buried deep in the soft underside of her paw.

She guessed the kitten had stepped on something like a branch and then tried to get to the Ravenclaw common room. She knew they were also in a tower, and that was the only reason the kitten would have limped up all those stairs.

Emma picked up the kitten. She could probably pull it out herself, but she didn't know if she ought to put something on the wound. She would just go see Madam Pomfrey, she figured.

She was sure the matron also knew a thing or two about animals.

When she left the hospital wing with a much quieter kitten in her arms, she – again – ran into Killian. He was chatting with Belle and laughing, looking really happy. When he saw her, the smile faded from his face. Belle looked at her uncomfortably, wished them a good night and walked past them, probably toward the Ravenclaw common room.

"What's with Leia?" Killian asked after they stood in awkward silence.

Emma pressed the slightly protesting kitten to his chest.

"She stepped on a thorn. You should take better care of your pets. Or your friends. Maybe you should warn Belle that you will forget about her the instant you find another friend."

Without listening to his explanations, she stormed up the stairs, away from him.

* * *

Killian sat on a chair in the common room, Leia fast asleep on his lap, his fingers absently stroking her.

None of this was fair. It wasn't fair that Emma blamed him for Leia's wound, he couldn't control her every step. It wasn't fair that she thought he didn't care about her anymore when he was actually busy planning her birthday. It wasn't fair that she thought he was replacing her with Belle. And it also wasn't fair that she must feel like all her friends abandoned her.

 _Just two more days_ he kept thinking. On Sunday she would see, she would forgive them for everything. He just sometimes doubted he could make it until then.

Liam had organized the ingredients from the kitchens (Killian still didn't know whether he'd stolen them, what he couldn't really imagine, or if the kitchen was just very generous with food, which also seemed weird). He'd promised he would get small black liquorice eyes from Honeyduke's, the only thing he'd not been able to procure yet.

Hagrid had agreed to let them bake the cakes in his hut. He was very find of Liam, and he told Killian they should bring Emma to his hut on Sunday, he would bake rock cakes, whatever that was, although Liam had warned him to be careful with Hagrid's cooking and baking.

Belle had agreed to help, apparently she had experience with baking. That was a good thing, because Killian suspected he would otherwise confuse sugar with salt.

Forming swans and ducklings would also be a challenge. He feared there would be nothing more than a grey and white mess in the end, but it was worth a try.

When he'd told her that they could celebrate at Hagrid's, Mary Margaret had been relieved. They had thought about smuggling him and David into the girl's dormitory, since all of Emma's roommates were on the plan, but David had painfully found out that the stairs turned into a slide when a boy set foot on them.

Besides, she noted, sneaking Killian in and out of the Gryffindor common room unnoticed would be almost impossible.

They had decided to invite their other friends from the train as well as August Booth, whom Emma had been spending time with lately. The more people could show her how much they cared about her, the better.

And in the evening, finally, all was ready. Now they just had to wait.

* * *

When Emma woke up on October, 22nd she was, unsurprisingly, alone. She quickly dressed, trying not to think about her birthday.

The Gryffindor table was again surprisingly vacant, at least considering the students from her year.

She hated herself for being sad about that. Why had she expected things would be different today? No one knew it was her birthday, after all. And she wasn't even sure they'd care. After she finished her toast she left the Great Hall.

Elsa caught up with her in the hallway.

"Hey, Emma, good to see you" she said with a broad smile across her face. And then, to Emma's greatest shock, she hugged her.

Emma had never been a huggy person, and even if it didn't last long, it felt awkward.

"I was wondering if you wanted to see Hagrid today" the Ravenclaw girl proposed.

"Uhm, yeah, why not?" Emma answered, still in shock.

She didn't have anything else to do, after all.

"Is August coming, too?"

She had rarely seen them apart from each other.

Elsa nervously looked to one side.

"Oh, he, you know, he's busy today…"

Emma raised an eyebrow. She always knew when someone was lying to her. Maybe they had had an argument, which would also explain why Elsa was so emotional today. It really wasn't her business, so she let it go.

"Fine, let's go."

Emma had never visited the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. She always saw the half-giant at the teacher's table, but she'd never talked to him. She wondered how Elsa came to know him.

When they reached the little hut, Emma could hear chatter from the inside. She frowned. Elsa's grin seemed to grow wider every second.

"Wait…" Emma started. Something was not right here.

When Elsa knocked, all the voices hastily died away. Hagrid opened the door, screening whatever was going on inside his hut with his gigantic body.

The second she stepped inside after Elsa was probably the greatest shock she had ever had in her entire life.

The hut was crowded with way too many people for its small capacities. She instantly spotted Killian, Mary Margaret, David and Ruby, then the people from her dormitory. Robin, Belle and August were also there, and she even spotted Regina in a corner. The small table was filled with smaller and bigger parcels wrapped into paper, but she refused to call them presents even in her mind, because this wasn't possible, she never got presents, how could they know…

Mary Margaret broke the silence.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she shouted. She had obviously waited for this moment for a long time. The others chimed in, and Emma didn't even know who to look at. The girls started hugging her and she was thankful the boys only her hand. When Killian stood in front of her there was an awkward pause when he seemed to wonder whether he should hug her or not, in the end he just laughed a little embarrassed and shook her hand.

Then they all began shoving her towards the presents.

"Wait, wait" Emma stopped them.

She was almost crying, damn, why was she almost crying?

"How…?" she managed to say, but she didn't trust her voice with more.

Mary Margaret started talking about how she found out about her birthday and how they had planned this, but Emma was so overwhelmed she only understood half of this.

She really didn't know what to think. She wanted to be alone to sort through her feelings. She had thought they had abandoned her, because she was always so ready to think the worst of people.

She didn't know what she felt right now. What was she supposed to feel? She should probably be grateful and happy, but those feelings were mixed with so many others, anger at their secrecy and her suspicion, panic because there were people everywhere, and she was their center of attention, shame because _goddammit she was crying_ , she hated being emotional in front of others…

"Thanks" she mumbled, quickly turning away to have a look at the presents, desperately trying to regain her composure.

Unfortunately that didn't help, because looking at all those parcels and letters did no good to her emotions. This wasn't happening, this _couldn't_ be happening, no one ever did something like that for her…

"Come on, open them already!" Ruby urged.

Emma blindly reached for a smaller parcel.

"Oh, that's mine!" Robin said and made his way towards her.

She opened it and found a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans along with to chocolate frogs.

"Sorry, it's nothing special, I didn't really have time to get something, I didn't know about this until yesterday."

The last part was directed towards Mary Margaret, but Emma just shook her head.

"No, it's fine, it's great, I… thank you."

She didn't dare look at him and just carefully placed the sweets at the side of the table. She had only seen Robin ones on the train. If his present already moved her this much, how the hell was she supposed to open the rest of them in front of everyone?

Again, she wished she could be alone, but at the same time, she didn't want any of them to go away.

The next one was a book, and she instantly knew it was Belle's. It was a collection of fairy tales by Beedle the Bard.

"Those are actually children's stories, but every child knows them, so I thought you might be interested", Belle quickly explained.

After she had unpacked a few more presents she realized there were more of them than people around.

When she reached for a bigger, soft parcel, David blushed and looked away. It contained a red and gold scarf and matching gloves, as well as a wooly hat. There was a note. Emma quickly read it, then turned to David, half in horror, half laughing.

"You told your mother about this?" she asked.

He looked away and nodded, his face dark red.

"Sorry, I didn't know she… you know she does these for James and me… if you don't want them…"

"No, it's alright, it's really sweet, it's just… wow."

Emma couldn't wrap her head around the thought that a woman she had never met would knit her clothes.

When there were no more parcels and letters left, she started to pack her presents together.

"Wow, thanks, guys, I…"

"Wait!" the others exclaimed.

Mary Margaret disappeared into a dark corner which was crowded with things Hagrid probably quickly put away to make way for all the people.

"We didn't know what to get you", Ruby said. "So Mary Margaret and I threw our money together and… well…" she smiled and pointed towards Mary Margaret, who was coming back to the, carrying something heavy.

When Emma saw what it was, he jaw almost hit the ground.

"You're kidding…" she whispered. "You can't…"

"We can, and we will" Ruby said firmly. Mary Margaret placed the bird cage on the table, where Emma quickly made space.

"We were afraid he'd make a noise and reveal himself, but Hagrid told us that a dark cloth over his cage would calm him down."

She pulled the cloth down now.

In the cage was a beautiful tawny owl, looking at Emma with his big dark eyes.

Emma gasped, looking at him and carefully striking his feathers through the cage.

"Thanks… I mean… I… I don't have anyone to send messages, I…"

"An owl is not only for sending messages" Mary Margaret said. "It's also a good friend. No matter what happens, he'll always be there for you, even if we can't."

"Why didn't I know about this?" Robin complained. "This is amazing!"

"What will you name him?" Killian asked.

"Charles." Emma said immediately. She didn't know where that thought came from, but it just felt right. "Charlie."

Killian smiled.

"Sounds great. I am… I've also got something."

Shyly he reached behind. There was a plate with a lot of small cakes on them. They were white and grey, and after a few seconds Emma understood that they were swans and ducklings.

"I uhm… my mother used to make some like these for me when uhm… when I was little, before… you know." He said quietly, so only Emma could hear him. "She was better at this than I am, I guess"

"They're perfect" Emma whispered and hugged him out of an instinct.

She had never hugged a person before, she had always been hugged (and she never enjoyed it), so she quickly let go again, shocked about her outburst of emotion.

"Thanks, Killian."


	5. Halloween

**It's already December, otherwise I would have called this a Halloween-Special. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

"I still can't believe I actually made that feather fly!" Emma told Killian excitedly when they made their way to the Great Hall. "Alright, it didn't exactly fly, it only moved a little over the table, but that's a start, right?"

"S'pose so" her companion grumbled when she looked at him, expecting an answer. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, frowning. He usually wasn't that distant. He shrugged as they entered the Great Hall. Emma threw one last confused glance at him before she left to join the Gryffindor table, whereas he went straight to the Ravenclaws.

"Congratulations, Emma!" Ruby said as soon as she saw her. "Mary Margaret told me how your feather moved. Neither Ashley nor I accomplished anything today, but…" She leaned in closer, whispering. "I hear August let it fly on his second attempt. Of course he had to show off after that. He's a Ravenclaw, after all."

"Killian's a Ravenclaw and he's not like that!" Emma said defensively.

Ruby sat back and rolled her eyes. "Of course I didn't mean to say anything against holy Killian. How could I? He's so perfect!"

"Hey!" Emma said, not missing the sarcastic undertone in the brunette's voice. "What's that supposed to mean? He's my friend, that's all! I never said he was perfect!"

"My feather also moved a little", David interrupted them to stop the fight from escalating. "Though I'm not sure, I might have touched it with my wand…"

"Professor French is going to say something", Mary Margaret suddenly said, and they all looked to the teachers' table, where the headmaster rose from his golden chair.

"I have an announcement to make. This year for Halloween there will be an event. No classes, but you will face certain challenges depending on the advancement of your magical education, meaning your school year. You will work in groups of four, one student from each house within the same year, except for Sixth and Seventh Years, who are permitted to work together. You have until Friday to form these groups, the remaining students will be mixed together by the teachers. I have claimed your attention for long enough. Enjoy your meals."

He sat back down the food appeared out of nowhere, as it always did.

"Cool, I don't think they've ever done this on Halloween!" Mary Margaret said. "I just wish we could form groups within our houses. It could be you, me, Ruby and David."

David looked shocked. "In a group with three girls? Thank you, but no thank you!"

Mary Margaret sighed. "Alright, the three of us and Ashley, even better. The prince wants nothing to do with us."

"I didn't say that!" David said defensively. "But… appearances!"

"I bet you Emma doesn't mind working with other houses", Ruby said. "She spends more time with Jones than with us"

"That's not true! What's your problem?" Emma shouted, maybe a little too loud.

"Emma, it's alright." Mary Margaret said. "No one judges you, or him"

"It's just a joke" Ruby added in a friendly voice.

"Sorry", Emma mumbled, evading their gazes and filling her plate. Suddenly she felt as if the whole Gryffindor table was staring at her. She was still getting used to having friends, people that didn't question her every step.

"So… I wonder what these 'challenges' are." David said to change the subject. "Should be fun. As long as I don't have to work with my brother."

* * *

"I have to work with my brother!" David exclaimed.

They were sitting in their common room on Wednesday evening.

"That's all Booth's fault! I met him in the library, so I asked him if we could work together on Halloween — I don't know many Ravenclaws, but I didn't wanna end up with this creepy Whale-guy — and he insisted we invite Rose, some girl he knew before Hogwarts, from Hufflepuff. 'Aurora doesn't have many friends yet, she is soooo lonely'. I mean I would have preferred Hood or this Humbert guy we have Herbology with, but no, it had to be her. Anyways, this stupid Rose girl invited my brother. She wanted to 'help' me. Thought I wouldn't feel excluded if I could work with someone I knew!"

He was pacing back and forth, sitting down, standing up again. He was clearly upset.

"I am sure Aurora only wanted the best. She is such a sweet girl!" Mary Margaret said.

"How could she know you hate your brother?" Emma added. "I mean, you're identical twins! Anyone who doesn't know you would assume you're close!" She tried not to think of Zach and Max. They had been close, too.

"I'd be very grateful if she stopped assuming! She could have just asked me! And anyway, how can anyone think we're close? I'm a Gryffindor, he's a Slytherin!"

"I know it sucks, but it's just one day. And at least you have a group."

"Yeah" David sank into his chair. "At least I have a group."

"What about you, Emma?" Mary Margaret asked. "Surely you'll work with Killian?" Emma shrugged. "Guess so. Haven't seen him yet."

That was a lie. She had seen him, she had even talked to him, but he had seemed to avoid the Halloween topic. She had given him enough hints; she had even asked him what he thought of the event. His answers had been short and vague. He had been that distant since Monday, and Emma started doubting she even wanted to work with him. Last time he'd avoided her he had been planning her birthday, and it had been great, but this time there was nothing to prepare for, and it seemed to her that he was sulking about something. Maybe she should just ask Belle or Elsa from Ravenclaw instead.

She was completely surprised when Regina came over to the Gryffindor table the next morning and asked if she was okay with the team name.

"What team name?" she asked.

"Team Phoenix" Regina said a little impatiently. "Look, I don't want everyone to see me at the Gryffindor table, but we really need to hurry, or someone else will take that name. I'm surprised they haven't already."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Wait, is that an invitation to your team?"

Regina looked at her in disbelief. "Invitation? I thought that was a sure thing! I talked to Jones two days ago and he said he'd ask you, but he expected you'd say yes! Wait… you two are participating together, aren't you?"

Emma's eyes widened. "Killian's in your team?"

"Yes! Didn't he tell you? I'll kill him. So… are you with us or not?"

"Sure" Emma said confused. "Who's the fourth?" "Hood. If I have to work with a Hufflepuff, at least let it be someone I know. Phoenix?"

"Yeah, sounds cool"

"Great." Regina turned on her heels and quickly walked back to the other side of the Great Hall where the Slytherins were seated. Emma's gaze wandered to the Ravenclaws. Killian was looking at her, but when their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze. Emma felt anger rise in her chest.

"What the hell was that?" Ruby asked. "Mills comes over, not Jones? Aren't you guys talking anymore? Did you have a fight?" "No" Emma mumbled. "Not that I know of."

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked angrily after she had dragged Killian into an empty classroom. "You agreed to work with Regina and Robin without asking me? We talked about this Halloween event yesterday, you didn't say a thing"

"Sorry", he mumbled. "Forgot".

"No, you didn't forget! What is up with you? Don't shut me out again! You have friends, Killian, talk to them!" She stopped shouting to breathe, and then added in a calmer tone: "At least talk to me. I thought we were close. I thought we understood each other. Is it something I did?"

"No!" he protested quickly. "No, it's just… I'm no use at all!" Emma rolled her eyes. "It's true!" he said defensively. "I haven't managed to produce a single spell since the beginning of the school year!"

"As many others. So what? Did you think you'd turn into some sort of Merlin within a week? It takes time!"

"But every idiot was able to do something! Even if their feathers only twitched, or exploded, or their potions turned into stinky mud, SOMETHING happened! Booth's potion didn't work because Whale secretly exchanged his ingredients after his own failed. Which it did because he thought he was so smart he didn't need to follow the recipe. French stirred into the wrong direction, Arendelle stirred too often, but I did everything right! I followed every step in the instructions and controlled it twice, and then I moved my wand and it was still warm water with dead flies and bat eyes in it! Professor Mills said I had the magical aura of a muggle."

"So this is about Mills?" Emma interrupted him. "You sulk for a week because a nasty old hag tells you you're bad at potions?" She really hoped Regina didn't hear her talk like that about her mother.

"It's not just that!" Killian said defensively. "I practiced the movement for Wingardium Leviosa all night, and I stressed the words correctly, but it didn't work! I could see Hopper frowning at me all the time, not at Whale who burned his feather down, but at me! McGonagall only let me try enlarging that stupid snail once, the others got three chances! It's all of them, all the teachers; they've all given up on me!"

She could see that he was almost crying.

"I guess I'm just some sort of squib and in a few more weeks they'll send me home." he added in a whisper.

Emma stepped closer. His deep blue eyes were even clearer because of the held back tears welling inside them.

"This was my dream. Coming to Hogwarts with Liam, finally having a home. I guess it was just too good to be true."

"Okay, stop this nonsense" Emma said quietly, but not without a certain edge to her tone. Then her voice turned soft. "You're not a squib, alright? If you got a letter, that means that you must have shown magical abilities. And the hat sorted you. I'm sure it would have noticed if you were a squib. You just need a little more time, that's all. And there's nothing wrong with that! So just stop worrying. Don't listen to Mills. She hates everyone who's not in Slytherin. And sometimes I get the feeling she hates them, too." Killian nodded, looking down. "Let's go back before someone starts looking for us."

As they walked side by side, she suddenly bumped her shoulder into his. "And seriously, stop doing that. When you have a problem, talk to me; don't make me feel like you hate me for days!"

Killian managed a smile. "I got it. Sorry."

* * *

"Every year will operate on a different floor, that way you won't get in each other's ways" Professor Blue announced.

Halloween had come fast, and now they were standing in the Ravenclaw common room, while the head of their house instructed them on the event.

"First Years will operate on the seventh floor, Second Years on the sixth floor and so on. Fifth Years will work on the third and second floor and Sixth and Seventh Years on the ground floor and in the dungeons. Together we can hopefully free this school from the evil that has invaded it."

Killian looked at Booth, who gave him a they-paid-her-to-say-this look. Arendelle and French looked a little nervous, but he guessed it wasn't because of the 'evil' that was said to have invaded school, but because of the challenges they were supposed to face.

As first years they wouldn't have to do much, he figured. As for the older students, well, rumors had spread quickly after French's announcement. Even before the groups had been formed, everyone had known that there was a giant in the dungeons, and yesterday evening he had heard the eldest would have to face a werewolf (it wasn't even full moon).

He met the rest of his team at the tapestry of some mad wizard trying to train trolls for ballet. When he arrived, Robin was standing on his tiptoes, trying to reach the face of one of the trolls.

"Damn!" he muttered silently. "That beast it big!"

"Please, continue to point out the obvious" Regina snarled.

Emma stood between them, shooting him a glance that clearly said: 'This is gonna be sooo much fun'.

"Sorry for the delay, Blue wouldn't shut up about safety regulations" he mumbled. He looked around. The corridor, as probably the whole school, was decorated for Halloween, with bats flying around and pumpkins hanging in the air.

"Any idea what we have to do?" Killian said after they stood for a moment in awkward silence. He nervously scratched his ear.

Emma lifted a single roll of parchment. "Now that we're all here…" she said, unrolling it. It was blank.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "That is really a tough challenge", she snorted. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Maybe that's invisible ink… anyone know a spell to make it visible?" Killian did, but he kept his mouth shut. He couldn't perform it anyway.

"Hey, something's appearing!" Robin suddenly said as an invisible hand seemed to write something.

"Oh, really? I didn't see that" Regina mumbled, clearly mocking him. Robin momentarily frowned at her.

"Oh, shut up, you two!" Emma said annoyed. She turned the parchment to the light. "How many houses does Hogwarts have? Oh no! Please tell me this is not a rally!"

"A rally? What's a rally?" Robin asked confused. For once Regina didn't comment his every word, probably because she didn't know, either.

"Only the most boring muggle activity you can imagine" Emma sighed. "It's usually some sort of auto race, but we often did that on school trips in another way… you had a certain amount of questions and you had to find the answers looking around."

Killian groaned as he understood what she meant.

"I highly doubt we will play a boring muggle game at Hogwarts" Regina said.

"Guys — you know we kinda do this on time? First team wins. If the questions are so easy, what are we waiting for?" Robin urged them.

Regina opened her mouth, probably to make a sneaky remark, but Emma shot her a glare and she closed it again.

"Alright… anyone bring a quill and ink?" They all shook their heads. Emma frowned. "Then how are we supposed to write down the answer?"

They all thought for a minute, then Robin sighed. "Well, I can't promise this'll work, but it's the best idea I've got." He took the parchment from Emma and drew his wand.

Pointing it at the parchment, he pronounced: "Wingardium Leviosa"

Regina laughed. "You know that's not the spell, right? And by the way, you say it wrong. And you need to move it differently. Seriously, did you ever listen to Hopper?"

"Regina!" Emma hissed. "Just let him try, alright?" Regina rolled her eyes. Killian watched her from the corner of his eyes. What was wrong with her? She and Robin had gotten along well on the train.

"Dammit" Robin mumbled and repeated a spell. Then his face brightened and he started moving his wand. The parchment smoked as he burned a thin '4' into it.

"How did you do that?" Emma asked amazed.

Robin shrugged. "That happens to my feather – or my desk – every time I tried to use the spell. I know it's the wrong enchantment, but I just focused on what I wanted to do."

Regina gave him an incredulous look, but she couldn't completely hide that she was impressed. "Who'd think an amateur's mistake would actually do something good?"

If Robin was hurt by this, his face didn't give anything away. "The next question is… oh, it's not really a question. We have to find the pumpkin with the different face"

And so they went on answering questions and mastering challenges. They were all easy, but still the difficulty was increasing. Now, whenever they had to answer a question, a quill would magically appear, and vanish after they had used it.

"No, he might have been good, but it was Harry Potter who defeated You-know-who." Regina insisted. "I know what he did, but Dumbledore was still more powerful" Robin contradicted her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Any idea what's wrong with them?" Killian asked. Emma shook her head. "Nope, nothing. Regina keeps taunting him for everything. I wonder why"

"Regina, what are you doing?" Robin protested as the brunette took the parchment from him and wrote something. "I told you, it's not Potter, it's Dumble–"

Before he could finish, the parchment exploded into a swarm of black bats. Regina shrieked and quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

"I guess that means wrong answer" Killian mumbled. "Where is the parchment now?"

"I think I have it" Emma frowned and pulled the roll from her sleeve. "No idea how it got there."

They didn't get a chance to re-answer the question, instead there was another challenge.

"The longest wand is supposed to lead us to a burned out candle which we have to light" she read.

They compared their wands, and of course Killian's had to be the longest. "What do I do now, play 'spin-the-wand'?" he asked. Emma shrugged. "You could try."

He placed the wand on the ground, but it turned out it was too crooked to spin. He picked it up again. "That's stupid" he complained.

"Maybe you have to perform a spell" Regina suggested. _Please not._

"I doubt that" Emma said quickly. "They wouldn't give us a challenge we can't beat, and we never learned a spell like that."

Killian looked at his wand, his father's wand, and it began to spin in his hand until it suddenly stopped. "Wow. I guess it works like a compass. Let's go."

They followed the lead of the wand until he actually found a burned out candle, floating at his eye-level. "Why did you stop?" Emma asked. "I found the candle. Someone light it"

"Where the hell do you see a candle?" Regina asked. "Right in front of me!" he said. "Can't you see it?" "I don't see anything" Robin mumbled. "Maybe that's 'cause you hold the wand"

"Light it, Jones" Regina said. "Remember the spell?" "Sure" Killian said with a trembling voice. He couldn't get out of this. Emma shot him an encouraging look. But the moment he lifted his wand, the candle suddenly disappeared.

"What?" he asked confused. "It's gone!" "I guess you're not supposed to move the wand." Robin suggested.

Killian let his wand point the direction again, then followed it quickly, the others at his heels. "It's right here" he said as he spotted the candle. Emma gave him her wand.

"Just try" she whispered.

He swallowed hard. He lifted her wand, trying not to move his, and said " _Inflamari_ ".

He could feel the magic before it even worked. It felt incredible, like his body was suddenly a ton lighter. Maybe that's why he twitched and missed and the flame went out in the darkness.

"It worked" he whispered, lowering both wands. The candle disappeared.

"Really? Regina asked skeptically. "Are you sure? The challenge is still written on the parchment"

"What?" Killian looked at her confused. "Oh, no, I missed the candle, but… I produced a flame!"

"How wonderful!" Regina snapped. "Give me the wand, I'll do it myself!" Killian handed her his wand and gave Emma back hers, still not able to believe what just happened. Regina stormed off, Robin following her.

Killian and Emma stayed back. "It worked. I-I produced a spell. I'm not a squib"

Emma smiled from ear to ear. "I told you, you just needed a little time"

By the time they reached the others, Regina had already lit the candle.

"What are you waiting for?" Regina said, giving Killian his wand back. "Next challenge."

* * *

The next few challenges were questions that Robin could all answer due to his big chocolate frog cards collection. Whenever he said a name, date or place, Emma wrote it down and Regina's mood seemed to darken.

"A new challenge" Emma finally announced. "Follow the bats and bring one of them to the Great Hall. Must be the last one. That should be easy, there are millions– where are they?"

The others followed her gaze. The ceiling had been full with animals a few minutes ago, but now they were gone.

"There's one!" Robin suddenly said, pointing to the end of the corridor. "Where?" they asked in union, but Robin had already stormed off.

They followed him, a little confused. They found him at another cross, frantically looking in every direction. "Where is it?" he asked.

Suddenly Regina pointed behind them. "There. Where we came from. You led us into the wrong direction!" So they followed her.

They never saw anything, but Regina seemed to spot a bat as soon as she came to a cross.

"No, wait!" Robin suddenly said. "I saw one down there! Where are you going?"

Regina just led them on until they stopped breathlessly.

"I'm telling you, there's no bat here" Robin panted. "We should have turned left there."

"No, it was here!" Regina said stubbornly. "Look, that door. Let's go inside" They followed her, too exhausted to argue.

When they entered the room, Emma drew in a sharp breath. "Seems like we found them." The room was filled with bats, flying around and squealing loudly.

"How are we supposed to get one of those?" Robn asked.

"Maybe with one of those?" Killian grinned and handed each of them a dip net.

It wasn't easy to catch one of these quick animals, but after a while Emma had one squirming in her net. "I got one" she yelled, feeling a little proud that she, too, had mastered a challenge.

Killian carefully freed it from the net, pressing its wings to its body to make sure it didn't fly away.

"I wish we had something to contain it" he mumbled. "Like this?" Robin held up a bird cage. "Perfect."

With the bat safe in the cage they left the room.

"Isn't this where we started out?" Robin asked when they passed the dancing trolls.

"Oh, really?" Regina rolled her eyes. "Well, I found the bats, so I've mastered the most challenges."

They looked at her incredulously.

"You've been counting?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"Regina, we're a team!" Robin said. "We did this together!"

"Of course that had to come from a Hufflepuff. I'm just glad you didn't beat me. That would have been really embarrassing."

Robin had had enough. "Regina, what is wrong with you? You've been like this all day, what have I done to deserve this? I thought we were friends!"

"Friends? With a Hufflepuff? Please!"

Killian grabbed Robin's arm. "Let's go. Our time's running out."

Emma wanted to hold Regina back to question her, but the brunette was close behind the boys.

When they came into the Great Hall, most of the other teams were already there. Only now Emma wondered why they hadn't run into each other during the event.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret called. "There you are! How was it?"

She was standing next to Ruby and Ashley. Emma shrugged. "Pretty cool. But Regina seems to hate Robin."

"No" Mary Margaret said in disbelief. "They were fine on the train! Sure, they argued over their cards, but that doesn't mean she _hates_ him"

"I know. It was pretty weird. You should have heard her, he couldn't say a thing without her commenting it."

In that moment Killian walked over to them, a grave expression on his face.

"Talking about Regina? That's not the only thing she messed up"

"Why, what else?" Emma asked.

"The whole bat-thing. We were supposed to find a gummy-bat that could fly for five seconds or so, not catch an actual bat. The teachers are debating right now whether we should get half the points or none for that challenge"

"You caught an actual bat?" Ruby gasped. "How?"

Emma quickly told them about the bat-room.

"But how is this Regina's fault?"

"She was the one seeing the bats, remember? First Robin saw one, too, and later again, but Regina led us into the opposite direction."

Emma shook her head. "Why would she lie, the whole team depended on that. And we did find a bat, after all."

Killian shrugged. "Maybe she wanted to beat Robin, I don't know. I've been thinking about that room. Isn't it strange? Everything we needed was there. First I thought this was because of the challenge, but if we were never supposed to find it…"

"And it was on the corridor where we started. Killian, I'm not sure, but…"

"No, there wasn't a door before."

"I thought so. But Regina's a first year, producing a room full of living bats is far above her abilities."

Killian shrugged. "I know. But still, it's curious. We needed it, or thought we needed it, and it was there."

Professor French interrupted them as he began to speak. He announced the end of the event and started naming the winners.

Ruby's team had won in year one, and each of them got a set of magical chess figures. Ruby hugged Humbert, Whale and Glass before she came back to them, smiling widely.

Team Phoenix was third, and they each got a sugar quill. They also hugged each other, but Emma noticed that Regina wouldn't go near Robin. That was enough.

As soon as the attention was on the winning team of year two, Emma came to her.

"What's wrong with you and Robin?" she asked.

Regina turned away. "Leave me alone, Swan."

"No, I won't, because whatever this is, it ruined the day for our team! We were supposed to work together! And Robin has no idea what he's done wrong. Can't you imagine how he must feel?"

Regina sighed. "Not here" she hissed and dragged her away from the people. "So maybe I don't want to be friends with Hufflepuffs, so what? They're stupid and useless, everyone knows that!"

Emma struggled to keep her voice low. "Stupid and useless? Are you insane? Without Robin we wouldn't have answered even half as many questions! You liked him in the train, and now you don't because he's in the wrong house?"

Suddenly Emma had the feeling that Regina wasn't entirely comfortable with her attitude, either. She stepped from one foot onto another and looked around nervously.

"So what? That's my business!"

She tried to get away, but Emma grabbed her arm and held her in place. "Regina, what's wrong? You can talk to people, I know it's hard, I really do, but it's true. If you have a problem, say it."

After a long pause Regina finally said something, but her voice was so quiet that Emma didn't understand.

"I was supposed to be a Hufflepuff" she repeated louder, almost too loud. She flinched and looked around, but nobody had heard them.

"What?" Whatever Emma had expected, it was not that.

"That dusty old hat wanted to put me into Hufflepuff. But my mother is here, and my sister… they probably would have disowned me! Being a Hufflepuff is worse to them than being a squib! Before I came to Hogwarts I swore to myself that I wouldn't let them control me anymore, but… during the Sorting Ceremony… it was like I could feel their eyes on me, and I panicked. So I told the hat I wanted to be a Slytherin. I was afraid. I was a coward. Go on, Gryffindor, judge me. But that is why Robin and I can never be friends."

"You're not a coward, Regina. I know what it's like to feel like people only love you if you do everything right in their eyes."

"Oh, of course, if YOU have felt that it can't be wrong. You never make a mistake; you're just the poor orphan girl who suffered her entire life. You are in no position to tell me what to do!"

Regina turned around and stormed of and Emma was left with a very familiar feeling: The taste of failure.


	6. Heritage

**Sorry for not uploading in a while, but Christmas was getting the best of me. I needed to get everything prepared, and I just couldn't find time for this poor story.**

For the next two weeks, Emma tried to speak to Regina, but the Slytherin avoided her. She hated it. It wasn't that she and Regina were usually good friends, after all she rarely talked to her, and she didn't even know what to say, she just felt like her intentions had been misunderstood, and she wanted to set things right.

"You just don't want to be the bad guy in this affair" Killian grunted when she confessed her dilemma to him.

He copied the words Hopper wrote on the black board, his usually neat handwriting edgy due to his frustration.

Hopper had decided to move on to the next topic, the Softening Charm, after all students had mastered the Levitation Charm. Well, all except Killian.

She knew this was bothering him. He'd been happy after producing his first spell on Haloween, but since them he'd never managed to do it again. He didn't understand why, and honestly, neither did Emma

Killian was smart, and a quick learner, better than most, and especially better than a few dump goofballs in their class, and even they had mastered this spell somewhat at last. Well, maybe _mastered_ wasn't the right term, but something close to levitating had occurred to their feathers. Killian's hadn't even stirred.

Emma didn't know anything she could say to comfort him (and hadn't already said), so she left it at that.

Later Hopper told them to try the new spell. Emma pointed her wand at one of her books and mumbled _"Spongify!_ " along with another dozen voices. Nothing happened, but after taking five weeks to learn the Levitation Spell, no one expected it would. Well, almost.

"This isn't gonna work!" Killian shouted, shoving his book off the table angrily. He grabbed his bag and left the classroom.

Emma and the other students followed him with their looks, totally surprised and shocked. He was usually a model student and rarely allowed others to even chat with him during classes.

Hopper stared at the door, totally shaken up.

"Well… uhm… keep practicing, students…" he mumbled.

It was a relieve when the bell finally rang.

Emma grabbed Killian's book from the floor and smoothed a few dents it had taken from falling down the table.

"Go without me" she told Mary Margaret and Ruby. "I'm going after him. Someone needs to tell him he's an idiot."

Mary Margaret nodded understandingly and Ruby said "see you at lunch."

"Actually I'd prefer it if you had a moment" Hopper said when they had left.

She made a vague gesture. "Sure. Why?"

"Because I think you know Mr. Jones best. I would rather talk to him himself, but as he has already left…"

He gestured for her to sit down again and she followed hesitantly.

"He's not usually like that, professor" she said quickly. "I'll talk to him. I guess he already regrets it. He'll come apologize, you'll see…"

"That's not what I meant to talk about" Hopper gently interrupted her. "I am more concerned about his practical skills. While he was in my class, he has never conjured any spell, not even accidentally. Even less talented students achieve something, even if they burn down their desk. And Mr. Jones is someone I would usually call one of my best students."

"He's no squib, if that's what you're concerned about!" Emma interrupted him.

"I know" he said soothingly. "Otherwise he would have never gotten a letter from Hogwarts, and the Sorting Hat would never have placed him in a house. Whatever the reason for his problems, it is not his lack of magic, or talent."

"What is it, then?" Emma asked, this time quieter.

"I don't know." The professor sighed and ran his hand through the hair on the back of his head.

"I wish I did. Truly. He is such an amiable and eager student, and I see how much it bothers him. I was hoping maybe you knew. It could be anything. Maybe an emotional wall that stops him… I don't know." He looked really helpless. "You know, in all my time as a professor I have never encountered something like this. What about other subjects? Did he ever conjure a spell, anywhere?"

Emma frowned. "He did. Once. But that wasn't in a classroom."

Hopper seemed surprised. "Really? Would you mind telling me the exact circumstances?"

"It was during the Halloween event" Emma said thoughtfully, and then she told him how Killian had tried to light the candle.

"And he was surprised by this, you say? He didn't expect it would work?" Hopper asked. He had sat down behind his desk and now placed his head on his thumbs. Emma confirmed. "So it's neither pressure nor lack of self-confidence. Maybe it has to do with lessons?"

"Why would that change anything?" Emma asked confused.

"What?" Hopper looked up. It seemed he had forgotten she was there. "Oh. I don't know. I'm just trying to think of all possibilities. If there had been more occasions on which he produced a spell…?"

"Not that I know of, and I'm sure I would." Emma said.

Hopper sighed. "I honestly don't know. I will think about it. And still, at least we have another confirmation that he has a talent. To produce a spell with someone else's wand, at the first try… Maybe I'll talk to him later, too. No, I definitely will, I just don't know if it will be today. I need to think about it first. And you should better give your friend his book back and get some lunch."

Emma nodded. She grabbed her things and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Miss Swan?" the professor called when she was at the door. "Please tell Mr. Jones that he mustn't worry, we will find the reason and deal with it."

* * *

Killian ran up the stairs. He didn't know where he was headed, maybe the Ravenclaw common room.

He never got there, though, because someone caught him by his coat on the 5th floor. Suddenly yanked back, he struggled to regain his balance and came face to face with his brother.

"Killian!" Liam hissed. "What the bloody hell are you doing here? You should be at your lessons!"

"What are you doing here?" Killian spit back. He knew none of this was Liam's fault, but he was still frustrated and now the guilt of what he'd done caught up with him, too.

"I am head boy! I don't have a lesson right now, and I'm patrolling the school to make sure no one skips classes! Although I have to say you are the last person I expected to see."

All his anger and frustration left him when he saw the disappointment in his brother's eyes.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled. "I just… it…"

Liam gestured him to sit down at the side of the corridor, as they both did then, and Killian told him everything that had happened. At some point he started crying, and he hated himself for that, why was he sobbing like some little girl? But he couldn't stop it, why wouldn't his spells work?

Liam took him in his arms and held him, like he had done countless times when Killian had been younger. That had been shortly after their father's death, when he had had nightmares every night.

He still remembered the night when everything had changed.

The knock on the door. His father's pale face when he opened it. Dark, hooded figures, with their wands drawn threateningly. They moved towards him, they wanted to hurt him. A figure stood between them, someone protected him, his father, his wand in his hand, the long, crooked piece of wood. A green flash of light that seemed to blend him.

He didn't remember what happened after that. He guessed that was how his mind tried to protect him. He had only been six years old, after all.

The time after that, however, was crystal clear. The grief. The pain. The foster homes. Yes, he remembered every bit of it. And the time before, too. The happy times with their father. Some random memory flashes with their mother, too. Only that nigh was a blur.

Suddenly he heard steps. He jumped to his feet and dried his eyes with his sleeve. He didn't want anyone else to see him cry.

A few moments later Emma came around the corner. He avoided her gaze, and hoped she wouldn't notice his red and swollen eyes.

She quickly greeted Liam, and then looked at Killian.

"Hopper is not mad at you", she began. "And he thinks that you have some kind of mental block that prevents you from doing magic. He doesn't know what, though. But he's trying to figure it out."

Killian nodded, still not looking at her.

"OK. Thanks" he whispered hoarsely.

"Look, there's nothing we can do at the moment, so I suggest we just go to the Great Hall and have some lunch", Liam suggested, and they followed.

* * *

"I just wish I knew how to help him!"

Emma looked at her mashed potatoes with disgust. It wasn't that she didn't like them, but she really didn't feel like eating.

"Come on, Emma, try to think about something else. Saturday's the first Quidditch match of the year!"

Quidditch. Everyone in the magical world was crazy about quidditch. Emma had never seen a game, but she had looked forward to it. But right now she didn't feel like it.

"She's right, you know" Mary Margaret said. Sitting here and sulking won't solve the problem. Let Hopper and Killian figure it out. How about we visit Hagrid? We still didn't have a chance to really thank him for letting us celebrate you birthday at his hut."

"You do know we have to write two parchments on the use of bat-eyes until tomorrow?" Ruby reminded them. "Wouldn't want to show up without homework in Mills's class."

"Oh, no!" Mary Margaret complained. "How could I forget? I planned to have it done yesterday!"

"So, homework it is" Emma sighed.

That evening, she sat in the common room, petting Charlie's soft feathers. She had never used him to send a message yet, but Ruby and Mary Margaret had been right; he did make her feel better.

Spending the day with her friends had helped her to forget her worries, but now, with Mary Margaret already asleep and Ruby writing a letter to her grandmother, her thoughts returned to Killian.

She really didn't understand it. Why couldn't he use magic if he obviously had it?

* * *

 _"_ _Spongify!"_ Killian mumbled, and nothing happened. Not that he had expected it to. Nothing ever happened, after all.

Sure, all the other students hadn't mastered the spell yet, either, but they would, somewhen. He knew they would. All except him.

Hopper came closer and encouraged him to try again, which he did, though not very eagerly. Hopper's eyes suddenly widened. He turned around, running his hand thorough his hair and mumbling "of course!".

He released the class five minutes early, only holding Killian back. Then he squatted before his table to be on his eye-level.

With Killian's permission he took his wand in his hand, turned it and examined it, his face a perfect mask.

"I remember this wand" he said after a while. "I remember it well. You didn't buy it, did you?"

Killian shook his head.

"It was my father's" he whispered.

Hopper nodded. "Yes, your father. Bentham Jones. We went to school together, did you know that?"

Killian's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You knew him?"

"I did." He placed his elbows on Killian's table.

"Have you ever heard the expression: The wand chooses the wizard?"

Killian looked down, nodding. He wasn't sure where this was leading.

"There is much truth behind this phrase, Mr. Jones. They say the material, the core, the flexibility and even the length of a wand say much about its owner. I am no expert in this field; I can't tell you the details. But I did speak to Mr. Ollivander about this once, and he knew it all by heart. By my wand he was able to guess that I was a Hufflepuff. He said it didn't always work, but it was very clear with me. Do you know, perchance, what this is made of?"

"Blackthorn", he answered. "And dragon heartstring."

"Interesting." Hopper eyed the wand again. "If I am not mistaken, dragon heartstring is the most powerful core, at least out of the ones Mr. Ollivander uses, and I believe he only uses the best."

"My father was a powerful wizard", Killian said proudly.

"Yes. Powerful he was." For some reason Hopper's voice sounded darker than usual. "I never knew the circumstances of his death. I don't mean to pry, I imagine it still hurts, but… what happened?"

"He was killed by Death Eaters", came the quiet answers. "He died fighting, protecting me and my brother. He was a hero."

"A hero." The professor sounded thoughtful. "Miss Swan told me that you were able to produce a flame using her wand?"

"Yes."

"See, wands are tricky things. This one, for example, it is used to a very different wizard. More experienced surely, but maybe also different in character. Some wands are… trickier than others. You were able to produce a spell with Miss Swan's wand, and that tells me one thing: You are a talented young wizard. But you are by no means your father, and this wand knows that. That is why it doesn't obey you."

Killian lowered his gaze. "No. I'm not him. My father was a hero. I'm just me. I could never be like him. Thank you, Professor."

He grabbed his things, including his, no, his father's wand, and left the classroom. So he had been right, after all. He just wasn't good enough.

* * *

Emma didn't see Killian that day, nor the next. He didn't show up for classes. Emma wondered what Hopper had told him.

August said he spent the whole day in the dormitory, talking to no one and letting no one near him. Emma had even sent him a message with Charlie, but the owl had returned with an empty beak.

On the third day she asked Liam. She told him about Hopper, and the Hufflepuff promised to talk to the professor the next time he saw him. He was worried, too.

Still, it was completely coincidental that she walked past the classroom where Liam and Hopper where talking later that day.

Since they didn't notice her, she decided to stay. She wanted to know what had happened, too.

Hopper was talking, but Emma was too far away to hear what he was saying. Liam just listened. He was looking down; his usually tall figure seemed to shrink with every word from Hoppers mouth.

When they were finished, Liam nodded. Then they finally saw her. She apologized, half ashamed that she'd been caught spying, half curious.

Hopper greeted her and left the classroom. Emma hesitated before approaching Liam, who now braced himself on one of the desks. He looked pale.

"What did he say?" she asked quietly.

It took Liam a while to answer.

"Now we know the reason why Killian couldn't produce any spells."

Emma just stood there and patiently waited for him to proceed. Liam sighed.

"I only wanted to spare him the pain, and now I've probably made things worse. Much worse."

Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"What is the reason?"

"It's the wand. It was our father's. Killian thinks he was a hero, that's why he wanted to use it instead of getting his own. Our father was many things, but he was never a hero, or brave, or good. He was a Death Eater, but he had betrayed them to save his own life. When they came for him, he was willing to trade us for his life. But they killed him anyway."

Emma just stood and listened. She didn't know what to say, so she just didn't say anything at all.

"Killian was so young, and so was I. We had just become orphans… So I lied to him, and I never set it right. I thought I was giving him something to hold on to. But whatever holds us up has the weight to crush us, and lies have often proved to be unstable pillars."

They heard a quiet sob in the door and turned around. Killian stood there, face covered in tears.

"Killian…" Liam started, completely shocked.

"I hate you!" his brother shouted and ran away.


	7. Just Like You

**Sorry for taking so long, I've got a lot going on at school with the final exams moving closer... Anyway, this one is extra long! Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review ;)**

* * *

Killian lay in his bed, Leia fast asleep on his chest. Victor didn't want the cat in their dormitory, because he claimed to be allergic, but since he hadn't even stirred since he fell asleep, Killian assumed he was lying.

He gently petted the kitten's fur. He couldn't sleep. He didn't understand. For the past five years, he had believed his father was a hero. And now, suddenly he was a villain? That couldn't be true!

He remembered, after all. His father had stood between the Death Eaters and him! But as he recalled that night once more, the pictures in his mind started to fade, like a dream. Was this really the truth, or was it just what he had _wanted_ to remember?

For the first time that night, he moved. He reached for his father's wand, which still lay on his nightstand. His eyes were already used to the dark, and he could make out the long, crooked feature in his hand. It felt so cold, so unfriendly. It made him feel sick.

He suddenly had the strong urge to throw it away and never touch it again, and he quickly put it in the drawer.

Why had he been so keen on using it in the first place? He should have known that it wouldn't work. Liam had _told_ him that wands usually chose the wizard.

Liam.

His betrayal hurt even more than their father's.

In a way, Killian understood that Liam had wanted to protect him, but how was lying the best way to do so? Liam was all he had left, and he had always counted on him to be there for him, to be _honest_.

Yes, he was much younger, but still, it hurt to know that Liam thought he couldn't handle the truth, that he thought had to carry this burden himself. His trust in his brother was damaged, and he wasn't sure if it would ever recover.

Killian closed his eyes, not for the first time that night trying to find some sleep. It would be long before he finally drifted off into dreams full of hooded figures, green flashes and his father's cold grey eyes.

* * *

Emma stood on the tribunes, a red and gold flag in her hand, waiting for the quidditch match to begin.

Despite all that had happened these past days, she was excited to finally see the one sport everyone in the wizarding world was crazy about.

Seven players in red and gold cloaks were on their brooms and up in the air, their captain Mulan Mushu face to face with the captain of the opponent team, Liam Jones.

His six teammates were dressed in yellow and black, the colors of Hufflepuff.

Emma watched Madam Hooch cross the pitch with determined steps. She opened the box, releasing three of the four balls required for this game. Her friends had spent hours explaining the rules to her, and Emma tried to remember what they were for.

"See, the snitch is already nowhere to be seen, I told you it was a tricky thing", Ruby said next to her. "As soon as the game starts, the Seekers will withdraw from the main action and start looking for it. Unless they train them to play offensive, you know, sometimes team captains want their seekers to fly around and try to knock the other players from their brooms, but I don't think Mushu and Jones are that stupid. After all, the Seeker could get hurt, too. And the one from the Hufflepuff team is so young, he doesn't stand a chance against people like du Lac. On the other hand, that could make him swift enough to catch the snitch before Frederick… but he won't, of course, because Gryffindor is awesome and we're gonna win."

Emma's head was spinning a little. She considered interrupting the brunette if she kept talking at that pace. Luckily, in that moment she had to stop to draw breath and that was when Madame Hooch picked up the basketball. Emma knew that it was not _technically_ a basketball, but it had a super weird name that she couldn't remember, and they threw it through rings, so what the hell?

"I want to see a fair match" Hooch said before throwing the ball up high and starting the game.

Mushu was the first to get it, and she quickly passed it to another… what was the term? Hunter? Something like that. The player threw it towards the rings, probably hoping to confuse the Keeper by acting quickly, but Liam was too experienced to be troubled by that, and he safely caught it in his hands, passing it to one of his own players…

It all happened so quickly it was hard to keep track, but the fans kept shouting and cheering (or, inevitably, groaning), and the board revealed that Hufflepuff kept scoring points after points.

There was a critical moment when a bladger almost hit a Gryffindor's head. She didn't have time to move out of the way and quickly pulled her arm up, and her sudden scream revealed that it was broken. A Gryffindor Beater, his name was Lancelot du Lac, if memory served, escorted his teammate to the ground before lifting up again. The game continued, there was no exchange player.

Now, with one Chaser down, it was even harder for Gryffindor to score. They were one hundred and ten points behind when Mary Margaret suddenly screamed and pointed her finger at Knight, their seeker. He was in a nosedive, for what it looked like no reason.

Hufflepuff's Seeker was close behind him, probably the youngest player on the pitch.

"They are following the snitch!" David shouted after a while. He was obviously quicker than Emma to catch on this new game.

The two players got closer and closer to the ground, still not slowing down.

"They're gonna crush, I can't look!" Mary Margaret covered her eyes, but started peeking through her fingers as she couldn't really look away, either.

The whole stadium was quiet; it seemed as if all the fans were holding their breath. Nobody even made a sound when a Hufflepuff scored three consecutive goals, until Mushu shouted at the Keeper and told him to concentrate 'on his own damn job and not on Frederick's'.

Knight skillfully maneuvered out of the nosedive in the last minute, and the Hufflepuff Seeker tried to follow him, but was too unexperienced and lost balance for a moment, which caused him to brush the earth with his feet and finally crush into the tribune. Only seconds after that, Knight caught the snitch and thus ended the game, earning Gryffindor a most unexpected, but gladly welcomed victory.

"Gryffindor wins two hundred to one hundred and ninety, who would have expected that after the Keeper did such a crappy job!" the commentator announced. "But luckily Hufflepuff's Seeker wasn't much help, either. I wonder if Cassidy is old enough for this, he looks as if he were just out of his diapers…"

At that point McGonagall took the microphone from him.

In between all the cheers, hugs and kisses going on between the Gryffindors, Emma saw the players land. Mulan congratulated Frederick for his catch, while Liam put an arm around Cassidy's shoulder, who was wiping away the blood from his nose.

Somehow, they all made it back to the Gryffindor tower, where they started celebrating. Someone had sneaked food from the kitchen, and the older students lifted Frederick over their heads, praising his catch.

"You showed that little Hufflepuff boy what a real Seeker looks like. I'm so proud of you!" Frederick's girlfriend Abigail had her arm around his waist as soon as they let him down, determined not to let him out of her sight for the rest of the evening to show every girl in the room that this hero was hers, at least that's how Emma interpreted her face.

Frederick shrugged. "He's just a Second Year, give him some credit. It's his first match and he doesn't have any experience. It's a lot of pressure, but he seems to have a talent."

"You caught the snitch in your first match" Abigail purred, and Emma decided to get away from them as quickly as possible.

"Let's get out of here, it's way too crowded!" she whispered in Mary Margaret's ear, and she and Ruby followed her through the portrait, even though Ruby was a little disappointed to leave Frederick's sight.

"He's great, isn't he?" she sighed.

"He, uhm, has a girlfriend? Besides, he's way older than us."

Ruby elbowed her. "Don't be so stiff! I know that! And I'm not saying I wanna be with him, but it's nice to just, I don't know, look at him, maybe even moon over him for a while. So what? A girl can have dreams!"

"So, how did you like quidditch?" Mary Margaret asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, how much did you love it?" Ruby added.

"I don't know. It was…pretty intense, I guess. Most of the time I didn't know what was going on."

Ruby shrugged. "You'll get there, believe me. I gotta tell Granny about this match, she claims that quidditch players today are not what they were at her times. Let's see if I can change her mind!"

"I don't know, Ruby", Mary Margaret said. "It's such a brutal sport. I wouldn't mind a few more precautions or restrictions."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "If you're too soft for quidditch, play chess or gobstone, I don't care, but don't ruin my favorite sport!"

"Have you seen Killian?" Emma suddenly asked.

"Emma! No! Spend some time with us for a change!" Ruby complained.

"It's not what I meant. I just didn't see him on the tribunes, although his brother played. I wonder if they're still not talking…"

"I know he's going through some difficult stuff right now, but Ruby's right" Mary Margaret said. "He can survive on his own for a while, you know? Allow yourself a break."

Emma sighed. "Ok" she surrendered, not entirely sad. It wasn't that she didn't like Killian, or didn't want to help him through a hard time, but she just wanted to have some fun for a change, and right now, Killian was no fun at all.

* * *

Killian had chosen to have breakfast later this morning, hoping he wouldn't run into his brother, who surely had some responsibilities as head boy. He had slept little that night, and he was sure he had dark shadows under his eyes.

He forced himself to eat something, even though he didn't have much appetite. He was halfway through his meal when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around

"I've been looking for you all over!" Liam said. "We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you", Killian said and turned back to his plate.

"Killian, please! Let me explain."

Killian didn't answer him. Instead, he took another bite of his scrambled eggs.

He could hear his brother sigh behind him. After a while, he walked away.

 _I don't need you_ , he thought, but he knew it was a lie.

Classes had become torture. A few months, maybe even a few weeks ago, he had loved learning how magic worked in theory, how to create potions, how spells and wand movements were connected, what really happened during the transfiguration of on object, or even an animal…

But now it all seemed so dull and pointless. He wondered why he even bothered to bring his wand, after all he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Emma said he should pull himself together, but he had so many other things to think about, how was he supposed to concentrate on bloody Potions?

"Minus ten points for Ravenclaw!" Mills shouted when he accidentally set his book on fire. It wasn't because he had failed the potion, but because he got so little sleep at night he could barely concentrate. He just sat there, head on his hands, and tried to keep his eyes open. His elbows must have drifted apart and pushed the book too close to the fire below the kettle.

"Would you _please_ be more careful?" Elsa hissed, putting out the flames with her coat.

They were working in groups of four on this potion, since it was more complicated.

"Can you still read it?" Belle asked.

"Yes, it's just the edges. Did we add the bat eyes?"

"Already at it", August said, pouring the shiny little balls into the kettle.

"Okay, now stir seven times clockwise, then change direction and stir one time while we add the mint leaves. Belle, did you cut them into little pieces?"

"Here they are."

While they were working, Killian drifted off again.

He knew Liam wouldn't give up, and he also knew that he couldn't avoid him forever. He had to talk to him eventually, especially with Christmas coming up soon. He wondered if Liam would want to go home. He doubted it. He had his NEWTs coming up, and besides, he was head boy. There was surely enough for him to do here, which meant that Killian was stuck with him. His brother would never let him go home alone.

"Killian, can blow into the fire?" Belle asked.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"The fire", she repeated. "Are you sleeping? We need bigger flames!"

In that moment, Emma's kettle exploded.

"Damn! I _told_ you wait until I stir the potion!" Ruby hissed.

"Minus twenty points for Gryffindor!"

* * *

"Are you okay?" Killian asked after they left the classroom.

"Yeah, I think so. I hate Potions! I'm so bad at it…"

Despite all, she was glad to finally talk to him again. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed him. She loved Ruby, Mary Margaret and David, but Killian and she had a way of understanding each other that couldn't be replaced.

"How are you?" she asked carefully. She didn't want to mention Liam, in case they were still not talking.

He shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

It was a lie and they both knew it, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"Hey, your hand! You said you weren't hurt!"

Emma quickly hid it behind her back. "It's nothing."

"Let me see!" he demanded. "Is it a burn?"

"No." She sighed when she saw the look on his face. "Okay, yes. A small one. Must've happened when that damn potion blew up in my face."

Killian examined it.

"You should go see Madam Nova", he insisted. "She can heal it in a heartbeat."

"No, I have class right now. If I'm late I'll have to tell Professor Blanchard why, and I don't want everyone to know I screwed up at Potions. If they don't already", she added with a sigh as she saw a Ravenclaw girl talk to her Hufflepuff friend, giggling slightly at her sight.

"You need to cover it with something, or it'll get dirty, especially if you have Herbology now!"

He seemed to think for a moment, then he took of his scarf.

"Wait! No! I'm not wearing a Ravenclaw scarf as a bandage, do you know what they'll say?"

"Relax, it's not a Ravenclaw scarf, just ordinary blue. I've had it for ages. See? No bronze stripes. Wait here."

He went into the next boy's bathroom and came out with a few wet papers.

"Here, that's gonna cool it."

He carefully placed them on the burn. Emma hissed as they came in contact with the wound, but she had to admit that the cool helped. And when Killian bound his scarf around her hand several times, it didn't feel as uncomfortable anymore.

She carefully tried to flex her hand. It didn't exactly work, but since this wasn't her writing hand, she guessed it would be okay.

"Thanks!" she mumbled, but Killian just shrugged it off. "You're welcome."

They parted ways in the hallway, since Emma had Herbology and Killian Magical Theory.

"There you are!" Mary Margaret said when she spotted here in the herbarium. "Are you sure you're… oh."

She seemed surprised when she saw Emma's 'bandage'.

The blonde gave her a shrug. "It's nothing, really. Is your mother not here yet?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, but I think the school bell hasn't rung, either. We've still got a little time."

"Where are you going on Christmas?" Ruby asked.

"Wait – we have to go?" Emma hadn't thought of this. She had a place in another foster home, but she really didn't want to go there.

"No, you can stay here", Mary Margaret assured here. "I am, for example. My mom stays here, and my father has lots of work in the ministry."

"Good", Emma said relieved. "I definitely will. What about you, David?"

He shrugged. "I'm still thinking. Wherever James doesn't go."

In that moment, Professor Blanchard entered and the lesson began.

* * *

Killian planned on going to sleep early that evening. He was tired to death, and he felt like the other Ravenclaws were still angry at him for almost burning the book and not helping them with the potion. They were probably right. His problems were not their fault.

On his way to the Ravenclaw tower he ran into Liam – again. He had a feeling his brother had waited for him.

They stood there in silence for a while, just looking at each other, both waiting for the other one to start speaking. The other students were still at dinner in the Great Hall, so no one disturbed them.

Liam surrendered after a minute or two.

"Is there really nothing you have to say to me?"

Killian could see that he was tired, too. He had dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair looked messier than usual.

He felt sorry for him, and a part of him wanted to forgive him, really wanted for things to be normal again. But he wasn't ready, not yet.

"I want my own wand!" he said and went past him to his common room.

That night, he was way too tired to think. The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.

In his dream he was a little boy of six again, sitting on the couch next to his father.

 _"_ _I can't sleep, papa", he complained, resting his head against his father's chest. His father put his strong arms around him, and Killian knew no one could ever hurt him while he was around._

 _"_ _Why, son, are you having nightmares?"_

 _"_ _No, I'm not having nightmares. To have nightmares, I'd have to sleep first, but I_ can't _sleep!"_

 _He felt his father's deep chuckle in his chest._

 _"_ _Then what is keeping you up?"_

 _Killian shuddered. "It's dark. I can't see anything. What if there's a monster that just waits for me to close my eyes?"_

 _"_ _Be brave, son. There is nothing in the dark that can hurt you more than it could in the light."_

 _"_ _I can't be brave, I'm too young."_

 _"_ _You are never too young to be brave, son. We are all brave inside. We just have to look deep enough."_

 _"_ _Then why is it that I'm scared?"_

 _"_ _Fear is what makes us brave. We have to overcome it. If you aren't afraid of doing something, how can doing it make you brave?"_

 _Killian thought about it for a while._

 _"_ _But fear never makes me feel brave. It only makes me feel… scared."_

 _His father laughed quietly. "Remember this, son: If you feel brave, you know you aren't. Being brave is when you are scared to death and still keep fighting."_

 _Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. His father kissed his forehead and went to open it._

 _His face turned pale when he recognized the people in front of him, or rather, their masks._

 _"_ _There you are, coward", the first one snarled. "Nice house, this. How much did the ministry pay you for betraying your brothers and sisters?"_

 _Bentham Jones stepped back. He suddenly looked so much smaller._

 _"_ _Please… I had no choice… they would have sent me to Azkaban…"_

 _"_ _Azkaban!" the other one shouted in disgust. "You haven't been paying attention, have you? There is no Azkaban. The ministry holds no power over us. The Dark Lord has won. If they had sent you to Azkaban, he would have freed you and rewarded you. If they had killed you, he would have honored your death. But you chose the easy way, and now he sent us. I'm sure you know what that means."_

 _"_ _Please, you can't… I have two little sons…"_

 _"_ _Don't worry, they won't be alone. We'll kill them as well. Maybe even in front of you."_

 _He pushed his way into the house. Killian_ _wanted to run away, but he couldn't move his legs._

 _The man (at least he sounded like a man, he couldn't see him) wore a dark coat, his face was covered by a mask. It looked like a skull._

 _"_ _Ah, there's one spawn. Tell me, is that the younger or the older one?"_

 _"_ _The younger", his father answered, not looking up from the ground. The other visitor held his wand to his throat._

 _"_ _Where's the other?"_

 _"_ _Upstairs."_

 _The man looked at him, and even through the mask Killian could see his cold, dark eyes._

 _"_ _You stay here, you understand? One move, and your father dies."_

 _He disappeared out of his sight, but Killian could hear that he was taking the stairs. His gaze was fixated on his father._

 _What was happening here? Who were these people? They were scary. Why didn't his father throw them out?_

 _He felt this was the right time to do something, to be brave. After all, he was scared to death, and that's what his father had said, right? But why didn't he do anything, then? He just stood there in silence, refusing to even look at him._

 _The other man returned only a minute later, dragging Liam with him, who had been asleep._

 _"_ _Which one do you want to die first?"_

 _The man almost laughed. Killian met Liam's gaze. His brother, too, seemed to be terrified. He didn't do anything, either. They were both so much wiser than him, Killian figured. If they decided this wasn't the time to be brave, they must be right. And honestly, he was happy about it, because his heart was beating in his throat, and he wasn't sure he could be brave right now. Maybe they were waiting for something. He was sure his father had a plan._

 _He did._

 _"_ _Take them. Bring them to the Dark Lord, so he can train them. They might be good fighters one day. Just please, let me go!"_

 _"_ _But father!" Liam shouted._

 _"_ _Quiet!" The Death Eater slapped him across the face._

 _"_ _So you would give your own sons to the Dark Lord to get away with your life? What a hero you are."_

 _Something in the man's voice was strange, like he didn't mean what he was he said. Killian didn't get it; his father_ was _a hero. He would never give them to the Dark Lord, this had to be part of his plan._

 _"_ _You disgust me", the other man said, pointing his wand on his face. "I have a child as well, and I would never trade her for my life! But then, I wouldn't have to, because I would never betray my master."_

 _The tip of his wand came closer and closer to Bentham Jones's face._

 _He sank to his knees._

 _"_ _Please don't! Please, please, please! No…" Killian realized that he was crying._

 _"_ _Avada Kedavra!" the man pronounced, and his father's lifeless body dropped to the ground._

 _"_ _No!" Liam screamed, but Killian couldn't scream. He felt that something was off. Why wasn't his father getting up?_

 _"_ _Now to you", the man kicked their father's body aside._

 _"_ _I think I'll go for the little one first, he reminds me too much of this coward."_

 _Killian looked at the wand pointed at his face and wondered what would happen now. He knew that he should be able to figure it out. People always told him how smart he was for his age, but right now, thinking was almost impossible._

 _"_ _You'll have to go through me, first!"_

 _Suddenly, Liam was standing in front of him, his wand, which he must have hidden in his pajama, drawn and pointed at one of the men._

 _The man laughed. "I like that one far more! Such a pity we have no use for him. At least he will die an honorable death, other than his father. Avada-"_

 _"_ _STUPIFY!"_

 _The door flew open and other people came rushing in, people Killian didn't know, either. Suddenly the air was filled with flashes of red and green light, while Liam was pulling him down behind the couch. His head was spinning. He looked at Liam and saw fear in his eyes, too. And yet he had saved him._

This is bravery _, he suddenly realized. Being afraid and still fighting. And he knew that his brother was the bravest person he'd ever known._

 _And in between all the shouting and fighting he mumbled: "When I grow up, I wanna be just like you. A hero." Then he passed out._

In the middle of the night, Killian woke in his bed in the Ravenclaw tower, staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open. The words 'A hero' still echoed in his mind.


	8. Wands & Bezoars

**Sorry for letting you wait (again), there's a lot going on with exams and stuff. Inspiration really struck me these past days - sadly not for this story, but for another that might come up as a OUAT fanfic somet time. But don't worry, I'd never give up on this one! This chapter is a bit short, but it kinda rounds up the previous chaps, and the next one will probably contain some Christmas fluff, so stay tuned ^)**

 **Thank you for the reviews, they are really great motivation!**

* * *

The next day, Killian searched all over for his brother. He didn't see him at breakfast, nor patrolling the corridors. It wasn't until he waited outside the Charms classroom with the other students that he found him.

Liam came out the door and paused when he saw him.

"I need to talk to you", Killian said before his brother even had a chance to open his mouth. They brought a little distance between themselves and the other students, who didn't need to hear their private conversation.

"Killian, I am so sorry, I should have told you the truth. I tried to protect you, but I realize now that I was wrong to lie to you. I talked to Hopper about the wand-"

"Wait, I have to tell you something, too", Killian interrupted him.

"Yes, you should have told me the truth, but I get why you didn't. And I… I think I remember. At least I had a dream, and that dream felt very real. In that dream, it wasn't father who stood between the Death Eaters and me, it was you. You had just finished your first year in Hogwarts, you were eleven years old, you were no match for them, and yet you tried to protect me."

He took a deep breath

" I just… I realized that I miss you. We are a team, and I want it to be that way again. Maybe you made a mistake, so what? I made tons of mistakes, and you never held a grudge against me, not even when I set our foster mother's bed on fire and we got thrown out of the house, or when I locked you in your room so you wouldn't go away and you almost missed your train to Hogwarts. Let's be brothers again. Just no more lies, okay?"

Liam smiled widely.

"No more lies", he promised and hugged him.

"And now about the wand. You're right, you need your own, and I'm sure that you'll do great once you have it. I talked to Hopper, he says if your house teacher allows it, too, I can take you to Diagon Alley this Saturday. I'm seventeen, I'm allowed to apparate."

"Really? Great! Don't worry, Blue will allow it if it's for the best of my soul. She has to protect her reputation as a paragon of morality."

Killian grinned. He hadn't expected for his wish to come true so soon.

"Just a few more days to go." Liam gave him a wink. "And now go to class. Hopper won't wait forever."

* * *

"No, bezoars can only save you from poison, they're no use against spells!" Ruby insisted, swaying her parchment around and almost knocking down Emma's ink.

"I don't know", Mary Margaret argued. "I mean, some spells maybe are poisons, in their own way."

Emma sighed. She hated Potions homework.

"Some spells produce the same effects as potions, right? Why would the bezoar only cure the one, and not the other?"

"Because you have to consume a potion, while a spell works from the outside… I think? Or not. I have no idea."

Ruby leaned back in her armchair, letting her parchment drop into her lap.

"Why are we only talking about potions and spells?" David asked.

"There are other forms of poison, aren't there?"

"Guys, it's already 11pm. We have class tomorrow. Let's just go to sleep and finish this tomorrow, okay?"

Emma carefully blew on her parchment to dry the few lines she had already written. She had adapted surprisingly quickly to writing with quills, and by now it felt like the most normal thing in the world.

"No, we only have until Monday to finish this, and I don't want my unfinished homework to pile up…"

"We already did Charms. Potions is the only thing left. I think we should be fine", David said.

"Besides", Ruby teased, "maybe you'll find the solution in a dream if you think about it hard enough."

Mary Margaret sighed. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you!"

She packed her stuff and started climbing the stairs to their dormitory.

"Is anyone staying for chess?" David asked.

"Chess? At this hour?" Ruby asked incredulously.

David just shrugged.

Ruby stood up and stretched. "Sorry, but I need my beauty sleep" she yawned and followed her friend.

"Emma?"

"Why not."

They chose a table and placed their chessmen.

"Wasn't it your idea to go to sleep?" David asked while building a row of pawns in front of his more valuable chess pieces.

"Honestly, I was just tired of Potions. I'll just ask Killian tomorrow, he's good at this stuff. By the way, I suck at this. I've never really played chess before Hogwarts", she added as her king and queen switched places, complaining about amateur players that didn't know the first thing about the game.

"Me neither. But this wizard's chess is really cool."

"Exactly!"

They started playing, none of them really knowing what they were doing.

"My mother taught me when I was young, but we just have so much to do on our farm that we rarely have time for games. I wonder how she manages on her own."

"Your mom seems nice", Emma said while watching David's knight drag one of her own off the board. "I mean I've never met her, but she gave me something for my birthday. She didn't have to do that."

David blushed. "Yeah, sorry. Self-knit clothing is probably not what you'd want to wear."

Emma was surprised that he would feel that way.

"What? No! I like them. I'll wear them when it gets colder. It's just… it's weird, no one ever tried for me like that, birthday presents and all, and to think that someone I don't even know…"

She swallowed. She hadn't meant for this conversation to get this personal.

"It's just a nice gesture", she finished.

David looked at her thoughtfully and nodded.

"You know, she's asked you to come over for Christmas. If you want."

"What?"

"Yeah, She doesn't want you to be alone. I mean, she also invited Mary Margaret and Ruby, and Robin, and, well, whomever I want to bring. I don't even know where she wants to fit this many people. But mostly you, since the others might want to visit their families."

"So… you told her? That I'm an orphan and all that?"

David seemed very uncomfortable, their game long forgotten.

"No… I mean, yeah, I just… in the beginning of the term I told her you weren't from the magical world, either, and she asked where you lived, she said she'd like to meet your parents to share experiences about, you know, having children in the magical world and how they were coping… anyway, one thing led to another and she kept asking about you."

Emma didn't know what to say. She felt overwhelmed by the interest a stranger would take in her. It wasn't like there was anything special about her.

They kept playing in silence until they lost interest, neither of them being very good at chess.

"I'll think about it. Christmas", she said before she went to sleep.

* * *

When Killian entered Ollivander's, he could almost feel the air buzzing with magic.

There were at least half a thousand small packages stored into shelves, and it wasn't hard to guess there were wands in them.

The moment they entered the shop, they heard steps, and seconds later Mr. Ollivander, dressed into a dirty overall, appeared from a room at the back of the shop.

"Ah. Hello", he said, startled. He took off the overall and closed the door.

"You'll have to excuse me, I seldom get customers at this time of the year. You seek a wand, I assume?"

His pale eyes seemed to pierce through Killian, and it took a gentle nudge from Liam for him to answer with a hoarse "Yes."

Mr. Ollivander took out a tape measure that starting measuring Killian's height on its own accord. After that it continued whirling around him, calculating the size of everything about him, even the distance between his eyebrows.

All the time he felt Ollivander's eyes on him, while he was talking to his brother.

"I remember the day you came here to buy your wand. Cedar with Dragon Heartstring, 13 inches, not very flexible, am I right? Yes… one of the finer ones I've made, and that, excuse me, means something. I assume it serves you well? May I see it? Oh yes, you've been treating it well, I can feel it. Keeping it busy. May I ask why you only come now?"

The last question was meant for Killian.

Ollivander took the measure tape and Killian dared to move again.

"I've been using another wand, my father's…" he started to explain. Liam gave him an encouraging nod, and he continued. "But it won't work for me. I haven't been able to do anything with it."

Ollivander nodded slowly, now standing behind the counter and looking at the results the measure tape had given him.

"Have you ever produced magic at all?" he asked, not looking up.

"Yes, once. I made a flame with my friend's wand."

"A flame. Considered beginner's magic, yet certainly not bad for a first try with someone else's wand. You and your friend possibly have more in common than you and your father, if his wand reacted so well to you."

 _Her_ , he wanted to say, but he decided it wasn't important.

"Did you bring the wand you've been using for the past few months?"

Killian turned to his brother, who reached into his bag and pulled out the long, crooked wand, and gave it to his brother. Killian then handed it to Ollivander.

The wandmaker eyed it from all sides.

"Blackthorn, Dragon Heartstring, 14 ½ inches, not very flexible. I gave this wand to Bentham Jones. I hear he was killed by Death Eaters."

He put it on the counter.

"You see, Mr. Jones, there are four important components to a wand. The wood, the core, the length and the flexibility. They all say something about the wizard they choose, but most of all the wood and the core. It so happens that Blackthorn is especially loyal, and, one's it has an owner, hardly obeys other people. And wands with a Dragon Heartstring have also been known to strongly bond with the witch or wizard using them. Not to mention I can feel this wand has been used for dark magic." He put it on the counter, rubbing his thumb and index finger together as if he had been burned.

" I am not surprised it would not obey a green first year, who has hopefully no interest in the Dark Arts. You should have visited me sooner. Why did you use this wand in the first place? It should have been broken when its owner died."

Not even waiting for an answer, he disappeared somewhere between the shelves.

Killian glanced over his shoulder, as if to make sure Liam was still there. His brother came closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. He may sometimes be harsh, but he means well. And he is by far the best."

Ollivander came back, carrying a stack of long, flat packages. He opened the first one.

"Aspen and Unicorn Tail Hair, 11 inches, unflexible."

At Killian's confused look, he added: "Just hold it."

Killian did as he was bid, and when nothing happened, Ollivander quickly took it away again.

He tried a few other wands, although he wasn't sure 'try' was the right word, after all he only got to hold them for a second or two.

One wand even shocked him with a small lightning strike, and he almost dropped it.

He was beginning to think that there wasn't a wand for him in this shop.

Ollivander handed him the next wand.

As soon as Killian touched the wood, he felt magic rushing through him in a way it had never done before, and a pleasant warmth spread from somewhere deep in his chest. The wand seemed to be excited as well, as it produced a variety of colorful sparks.

"Ebony and Phoenix Feather, 9 ½ inches, quite flexible", Ollivander pronounced. "It would be hard to find a wand more different from your father's than this one."

* * *

"A bezoar can save you from poison, spells aren't poison", Killian answered the second she asked him. They were sitting in the Great Hall that Sunday afternoon, doing homework. "Certain potions may be regarded as poison, but also various venoms derived from plants and creatures. Although, generally speaking, a bezoar would only work reliably if the poison was ingested orally."

Emma hated it when he spoke like he was born in the middle ages.

"That means you drank it. Or ate it", he explained at her puzzled look.

"So it wouldn't cure a snake bite? Or scorpion sting?" she clarified.

Killian shrugged.

"It might. It might not. It's a bit tricky. Depends on how you use the bezoar, and how powerful it is. There are differences, you know? But since snakes and scorpions are non-magical creatures, it would be easy to find a cure for their venom anyway. It's the magical creatures you have to worry about. Poisonous dragons are already bad, and they say there's no one who's ever survived an encounter with a chimera."

Emma sighed. "I have a better idea. Did you already finish the homework?"

When he nodded, she asked: "Can I have it? I'm not gonna copy it, I'll leave out all the bonus stuff, I just need to fill my parchment."

Killian hesitated. "Fine", he said. Pointing his wand at his bag, he pronounced: " _Wingardium Leviosa!_ "

Ever since he had his new wand, he practiced spells whenever he could. It was annoying, but Emma forced herself to cut him some slack. He hadn't been able to do that for a long time, after all.

"Ebony and Phoenix Feather, 9 ½ inches, quite flexible", he said for what seemed to be the nine hundredths time. "What's yours, again?"

"Cypress and Phoenix feather, 11 inches, not very flexible", she said with a sigh, not for the first time.

Killian nodded. "I wasn't sure about the flexibility. You know, Ollivander says that all these things say something about the witch or wizard the wand chose. Isn't that interesting? He said since I could produce a spell with your wand, we may be much alike. Or something like that. Funny, after all our wands are so different. Except for the core, but there are only three anyway."

He had spent the last days walking around and asking students about their wands. He wrote it all down, hoping to find a pattern, as he claimed. It was really annoying, but when Killian had set his mind on doing something, there was no changing it.

"So, what do you do on Christmas?" she asked to change the topic.

Killian shrugged.

"Guess I'll have to stay here. Liam's head boy and he's got his NEWTs coming up, so he can't very well go home."

"David's mom invited me", she said

Killian's face lit up.

"That's great! So you'll be leaving?"

"Whoa, I said she invited me, I didn't say I'd go."

"Why not? Wouldn't it be nice to be a part of a cozy family Christmas?"

"I guess that's what I'm afraid of", Emma confessed. "I just don't know if I'll fit in there. Whenever I was with a happy family before, it always ended in a disaster."

"That's because they're not adopting you for your good, but for their image", Killian said wisely. "I was in the system, too, I know the drill."

He looked at her with his deep blue eyes.

"This will be different, trust me! She's inviting you for your happiness, not for hers."

Emma frowned. "You don't even know her!"

He smiled. "And neither do you. But trust your guts, Swan."

She laughed, as she always did when he called her that.

"Maybe you're right. And from what I've heard, Mary Margaret's coming, too, so it should be fine."


	9. Christmas

**Yes, I am still there ^^**

 **So this is a short one, and I'm not really happy with it, but have my finals coming up, and that and the school newspaper have taken a lot of my time lately. Then there was Easter... The good thing is that, after next week, I'll be done with my exams, and since I don't have school anymore, I have free time. A lot of free time. And what better way to spend it than writing? ;)**

 **Anyway, enjoy, and if you liked it, leave a review!**

* * *

Leaving Hogwarts was weird. She knew it was only for two weeks, but as she looked at the castle from afar, towers soaring up into the sky, she felt the urge to jump out of the train and run back.

"Is this seat taken?" someone asked.

Emma turned her head to the newcomer. She'd seen him around, he was a second year, but she couldn't remember his name.

"No, come in", she answered. "But just so you know, my friends are gonna come later, so it might get crowded."

The boy sat down at the window and smiled at her.

 _My friends_. It felt weird to say that. But yes, it was true. About Mary Margaret, Ruby and David, and Robin, though she didn't see him as often. And Killian, of course, who was staying in Hogwarts.

She looked back at the castle. Did she really want to leave?

"Having second thoughts?" the boy asked.

Emma flinched. She had almost forgotten he was there.

"What?" she asked.

"You don't look very happy to leave Hogwarts and visit your family", he said with a laugh.

"Not visiting my family."

"Really? Then where are you going?"

She shrugged.

"A friends place."

The boy nodded and leaned back in his seat.

"You know, it's a good sign, actually", he suddenly said.

"What?"

"That you don't wanna leave. It means you found home."

Before she could answer to that, the door opened and Mary Margaret entered, closely followed by the others.

They seemed a little startled at first to see the other boy, but they didn't say anything.

"Hey, Neal", Robin said, recognizing him from his house.

Neal gave him a nod, and Emma quickly introduced the others.

"So, who wants to play Exploding Snap?" Robin asked, taking out his cards.

They played for the rest of the journey, until they parted ways with Ruby and Neal at King's Cross.

James and his friends Edward and Jack stood beside them as they all waited for Ruth Nolan to pick them up.

She didn't let them wait long. David stood up from his suitcase, which he had been sitting on, and waved her closer.

Mrs. Nolan was a lovely elderly lady who greeted them all with a hug. Emma saw Jack making a face behind James's back, but she didn't mind. She had a feeling as if she was being hugged longer than the others, but maybe she was just imagining things.

"So, let's go get to the restaurant, our train won't leave for another two hours!" she said.

Jack made a choking sound at the word train, which she quickly covered with a cough, and Edward seemed to hardly keep from a snide remark.

Since the Nolan's lived way up in Scotland, the journey was long. Mrs. Nolan was really nice, and Emma warmed quickly to her. She asked them about the magical world and their school, keeping her voice low so no one else could hear them.

She was a little disappointed that they weren't allowed to show her anything outside of school, but since they brought Exploding Snap and still had some of their sweets from the train left, they could promise to show her something.

The Nolan's lived on a farm with a lot of sheep. At night, Emma could hear them bleating at all the time. The cabin was bursting with nine people, but since they spent all day outside, helping out, it didn't bother anyone. Well, almost.

"James, why don't you have a shower here?" Jack complained. "What am I doing here? Do I look like a farmer's daughter?"

"Definitely not", Robin muttered while stopping a sheep from escaping through the fence.

"What is she doing here, anyway?" Emma whispered. "No one forced her to come!"

"I think she… you know… likes James." Mary Margaret said softly.

"Ew. They'd make a _great_ couple." Emma made a face. Mary Margaret shrugged, closing the gate after David chased in the last animals.

"It's all much faster with your help!" he said gratefully.

"No problem." Emma petted one of the sheeps' nose through the fence. "It's kinda fun, you know?"

David wiped the sweat from his forehead. "If this is fun for you, maybe you should move in", he joked. "I'd gladly trade my brother for you."

Emma smiled, but didn't answer. If only he knew how happy she would be about that!

Mary Margaret wanted to say something, but in that moment she was hit in the back by a handful of dirt.

Edward Teach, one of James's mean friends, laughed while shouting: "You have something on your shirt! I don't think Davy's gonna like you that way!"

He only laughed until David and Robin pushed him to the ground and he got covered in mud and worse himself.

James and Jack were about to join in the fight when Ruth called them all in for dinner. Shooting David a dirty look, Edward announced he would change first.

* * *

The weekend before Christmas Killian sat alone in the Great Hall. Well, he wasn't really alone, technically there were other people, just no one he knew closer.

Liam had gone to Hogsmeade, just like most that could. The school looked empty without them, and all the students that had gone home for Christmas.

August, Elsa and even Emma weren't here. He knew he'd encouraged her to go, and he was happy for her, but he hadn't thought he'd be so _lonely_. He hadn't realized he didn't have any other friends.

He got along with a bunch of people from his house, but he never did anything with them. Well, sometimes he and Belle worked on their homework together, but mostly she had her nose stuck in some book.

Killian sighed, looking at his chess board. Why had he even brought it? He didn't have anyone to play with, after all.

"All alone so shortly before Christmas?" suddenly someone said. He turned his head to the student that had spoken.

It was a tall boy he had seen around, a fifth or sixth year. The sign on his coat told him that he was a prefect. He came over to him from the Slytherin table.

"Where are your friends?"

Killian shrugged. "Home", he said.

"So you have no one here?"

"I do, my brother, he's just in Hogsmeade. What do you want?"

"Make sure that you're not lost. You looked so lonely."

Killian eyed him curiously. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

The older raised an eyebrow.

"It's a bit boring, isn't it? I've been to Hogsmeade so many times, there's really nothing special about it. Well, Zonko's is nice, but that's pretty much it."

"I like the things my brother brings me from Honeyduke's", Killian said.

"Sure, but my boys are there, they'll get me something. I prefer staying in."

He lowered himself on the bench, facing him. "So, do you plan on using that?"

He waved at the chess board on the table. Killian looked at him, surprised.

"Why would you want to play with a first year? You don't even know my name."

"Oh, of course I do. I'm prefect, Killian! Do you really think I don't pay attention to the younger students? It's my job!"

"You're not a Ravenclaw prefect", Killian said, suspiciously eying his green-and-silver tie.

The prefect sighed. "Houses really aren't that important. Especially as a prefect. I'm responsible for all students, am I not? Or do you have prejudices?"

He tried to shake off the memory of his father. It might have changed his opinion of Slytherin's a bit, but it wasn't this nice guy's fault.

"No, 'course I don't. What's your name?"

"You can call me Peter. So…"

He quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "Let's play."

* * *

Emma sat at the table in the hut, listening to the conversation, but not really participating in it. So this was Christmas. She really liked it, she had to admit.

Sure, there were the presents (including yet another self-made pair of gloves from David's mother), but she enjoyed the atmosphere even more.

She didn't even know what it was that made her so happy. The company? The friends? The feeling of being loved? But she had all that in Hogwarts. She couldn't figure out what made this so different, even better.

When she confessed herself to Mary Margaret, the brunette just smiled.

"Oh, Emma, that is Christmas! It does that to people. Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah, I guess."

She still wasn't a fan of laying all her emotions on the table. But a few months ago she wouldn't have been able to enjoy a holiday like this, so she was definitely making progress. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to let her walls down completely. They were a part of her, after all.

"So, Emma, where do you go in summer?" Ruth asked (she had insisted they all call her that, and not Mrs. Nolan).

Emma looked up, surprised at being addressed.

"Oh, I'll go to another foster home, I guess. Already filled out the papers."

She shrugged, as if it was nothing, when she really dreaded that time.

Weeks of not being able to talk to anyone about magic, which had become a part of her life. Being away from her new friends. And who knew what the kids and the matron in the new home were like?

She had been bullied and beaten before, and she did not want to go back there. Especially when she knew that know, with magic, she could protect herself, but wasn't allowed to.

"Well, you have to come visit us! Maybe you can even stay here the whole summer, if you want?"

"That would be wonderful, but I don't want be an intruder…", Emma started, touched.

"Oh, you wouldn't be! I would love to have you here, and I am sure David would, too. Wouldn't you, son?"

David smiled. "Sure, you're always welcome."

"Oh, great, can I invite a friend for the summer, too? Jack, for example?" James asked. He seemed to be a little jealous.

Ruth's smile faded.

"James, I'm sure Jack would like to spend time with her family, too…"

"Then why can Emma come?"

Ruth, opened her mouth, but before she could respond, Edward said:

"Because she has no family and no one else cares about her."

Emma clenched her fists under the table, but she couldn't deny that he'd hit right into the center.

"That's not true!" Robin said, but Emma interrupted him.

"No, it is."

She looked down at her plate. A part of her wanted to get up and leave, but she didn't want to give Teach the dramatic exit and the emotions he wanted to see. Instead, she focused on her meal.

The rest of the day was spent in uncomfortable silence.

 _Leave it to a Slytherin to ruin the mood_ , she thought angrily, lying awake that night. _If only he wasn't right._

* * *

Killian won the party easily. So easily that he thought Peter had let him win. If he had, the Slytherin's face didn't betray him.

"Well done, Killian! I am proud of you. Ten points for Ravenclaw."

Killian frowned.

"You're adding points for my house because I beat you in chess?"

"Why not? I'm a prefect, I'm allowed to do that."

"But I'm not even in your house! Don't you care about the Cup?"

Peter sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Of course I care, Killian, but adding points to my own house, and not to others, only to win… that's cheating. And cheaters never win. Besides, it's the game that's fun. If you win, the game's over. What fun would that be?"

He smirked.

"I'm ready for a rematch. How about you?"

Killian shook his head. He had a letter from Emma in his dormitory that he had to answer, and something about this guy just seemed off.

"Sorry, I got something to do. It was nice to play with you, Peter."

He grabbed the chess board and stuffed it in his bag. With a friendly nod to the prefect he left the Great Hall and started going up the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower.


	10. The Lost Boys

"So, have you done anything for the exams yet?" Killian asked.

They had stretched out in the grass by the lake to enjoy the first sunlight of April. Of course they weren't the only ones. The area was filled with people of all grades.

Emma had her eyes closed and let the sun shine on her face. She shook a bug from her hand.

"No."

She turned and blinked, screwing up her face to protect her eyes from the bright sunlight.

"Have you?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing."

He shielded his eyes from the sun, watching the clouds.

"I mean I feel like we should start. They're already in June! But… there isn't much to learn, is there?"

"No", Emma agreed.

"Maybe for some subjects, like History of Magic…"

She made a face.

"Yes, probably. But Charms? I use the spells all the time just for fun. Mary Margaret's been going crazy about the exams since Christmas though. I think she's gone through all the stuff at least twice by now."

Killian grinned, imagining the brunette bent over a pile of papers and frantically writing one parchment roll after the other.

"I know what you're talking about. Most Ravenclaws seem to think the same. Although I'm pretty sure some of them spend the whole year with their nose in a book."

Emma suddenly squealed, jumping to her feet and wiping her face and neck. Killian propped himself on his elbows, watching her with his eyes half closed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"There was something in my face!" Emma complained, clearly disgusted. "Something like a big fat bug! Is it gone?"

She continued brushing her clothes when they suddenly heard someone laughing loudly behind them. They turned their heads.

Ruby was on their way to them, her wand drawn.

"That was hilarious! You literally squealed!"

"Ruby Lucas!" Emma shouted. "I am going to kill you!"

Killian got to his feet.

"Better don't", he reasoned. "Might get you expelled."

Ruby came closer, still laughing. She tried to say something, but whenever she opened her mouth she was hit by a new wave of laughter. It took her a while to gather enough breath to speak.

"I was actually just going to get you because you gotta see this, Emma, but then I saw this cricket and I thought it would be fun too…"

"It's not!" Emma said through gritted teeth. "What do I have to see?"

"Oh, some pupils are preparing for some sort of magic show. I think it's actually pretty fun. And this one guy is really hot!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "That's all that matters for you, isn't it?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not planning on dating him; I'm just saying he's nice to look at. Let's go!"

Emma looked at Killian. He shrugged.

"Why not?"

Emma sighed.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Killian could see the crowd from afar. Students from all years had gathered around a group of boys who were performing magic tricks. Emma spotted Mary Margaret and David, and they budged up to make space for them.

He had seen the pupils around, but he didn't know their names. Well, only one. The tall Slytherin prefect, seemingly the main entertainer, was Peter, whom he'd met around Christmas. The boys surrounding him were of all ages and houses, but he didn't know any of them by name.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Peter announced, winking an eye at a group of fourth year girls, who promptly blushed and burst into giggles. "Thank you for coming to see The Lost Boys, as we call ourselves. I hope you enjoy the game!"

He bowed, and many started applauding without having seen anything yet.

Two second years stepped forward and started juggling with apples they probably stole from the breakfast table. Killian had seen jugglers before, but all those students who had grown up in magical families gasped and pointed at them, their eyes almost falling out.

Next were a few older students who did the same with knives.

"They shouldn't be doing this!" Mary Margaret said. "They could get hurt!"

But they didn't. The knives seemed to be part of their body, and they barely seemed to touch them before they were flying up in the air again.

They stopped, and the crowd applauded furiously.

"What kind of magic is this?" a young boy asked. "Can you teach us?"

Peter stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good question, Hans." He turned to the crowd. "What you have just witnessed was not magic, believe it or not. Even muggles can do this, with some practice. Isn't it great what kind of entertainment they come up with without magic?"

He raised an eyebrow, and the crowd stared murmuring. The boy, Hans, stepped back.

"If this is a muggle thing I want nothing to do with it."

Peter smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking that right now. Which is why I added a little magical touch to the program. Felix?"

A blond Slytherin stepped forward.

"Now, muggles do this with a simple trick. We're going to use magic to make it a little more… entertaining."

They stood side by side, their wands raised to their mouths. Then they blew on them and released two immense dragons of fire. They passed the crowd so closely Killian could feel the heat they were radiating, hissing at the people before disappearing back into the wands.

"Now that", Peter told the shocked crowd, "was magic."

The crowd was silent. Some cheered, but most looked at each other, not sure what to think of it. Peter didn't seem to notice.

"One more trick. For that I need a volunteer."

He looked around, spotting Killian.

"Ah, Killian, my friend! Come, you'll love it!"

Before he had a chance to realize what was happening, he'd been pulled from the crowd. Now he stood beside Peter, who had an arm around his shoulder, holding him close.

"This smart young lad actually defeated me at chess!" Peter said. "I'd be honored if you'd assist me with this. Don't worry, it's not dangerous. Just stand over there."

Peter shoved him to a nearby tree until he felt the bark at his back. Then he passed him an apple.

"Just hold on to that for now. Felix?"

The blond Slytherin was about to hand him a crossbow when Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the air.

"What is going on?"

Felix quickly hid the crossbow in a bag as the crowd parted for the professor. Some students quietly left towards the castle, clearly thinking they would get in trouble.

Killian spotted his brother following McGonagall.

"Killian?" he asked, shocked. "Are you part of this?"

Killian rapidly shook his head. Professor McGonagall only glanced at him from aside and gestured for him to leave. He stood next to Emma, watching the scene.

"I heard there was a Fiendfyre here, Mr. Pan, and I very much hope that these rumors are false, or I will have to talk to Professor French about your position as prefect."

Peter listened to her, his face serious, but when the professor looked away to muster the other Lost Boys, he winked and eye on Killian.

"Fiendfyre is considered dark magic, are you aware of that?" McGonagall asked, turning back to the prefect.

"I am, professor. I can assure you, all we did was perform some harmless muggle tricks."

"I hope for your sake that you're telling the truth, Mr. Pan. If I ever hear anything disturbing about the… what do you call yourselves? 'Lost Boys'? again, I will have to think about prohibiting this group, is that clear?"

Pan nodded, slightly bowing. "Very clear, professor. It won't happen again."

Giving him and the other Lost Boys one last stern look, she walked away. Felix came up to Peter, who didn't seem bothered at all.

Liam took Killian aside.

"What was this, Killian? What did you have to do with it?"

"Nothing, I swear!" Killian said. "He picked me as a volunteer for the next trick. I didn't even ask for it!"

"Do you know him?"

No! Well, not really. He played chess with me once, a few months ago. He was weird even then. But that's it!"

Liam nodded, darkly eying the Slytherin.

"Better stay away from him, Killian. I don't trust him."

"Neither do I."

* * *

"Can we please stop already?" Emma whined, putting down the quill. "If I read the word 'Goblin Rebellion' on more time, I swear I'm gonna cry!"

"Emma, this is very important!" Mary Margaret insisted. "Our exams are in June, and if we fail, we might have to repeat a year."

"They really do that?" Emma asked with a frown. "Look, we're not gonna fail. Look at all those students in the higher years. There are so many among them that would still be in year one if the exams were that hard! They're basically trolls! If they could do it, we can, too."

"Maybe", Mary Margaret admitted while looking through her parchments. "Maybe not. We shouldn't take risks on this! And anyway, it's not just about passing, it's also about getting good grades."

Emma sighed, looking out of the window. "The weather is too nice to sit in the tower. I'm gonna go outside."

She closed her books. "You're really staying up here?"

The brunette nodded, her nose buried deep in _The Standard Book Of Spells, Grade 1_. She wasn't the only one. David and Ashley were studying, too, along with a bunch of older students. How did they do that? Didn't they get bored?

She left the common room and went down the stairs. She needed to get outside again. A tabby cat strolled through the entrance hall, probably to escape the heat outside. She followed it with her eyes and almost bumped into someone.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going, Swan!" Regina hissed.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking…"

"Obviously!"

"Are you alright?"

The other girl looked at her angrily.

"I won't die."

"So, uh, you're going in? Why don't you want to be outside? The weather's great!"

"Well, some people actually care about their exams!" Regina snapped. "How the hell am I supposed to study with everyone chatting and peeking over my shoulder?"

Without looking at her again, the brunette headed to the stairs that led to the dungeons, where Emma suspected the Slytherin common room was. How fitting.

"Who peed in your corn flakes this morning?" Emma muttered under her breath.

"She's always like that", Robin observed.

Emma jumped, not having seen him. "Oh, hi, Robin. What's wrong with her? It's not like I did anything to her…"

The Hufflepuff shrugged. "It's not just you. She treats everyone like that. It's strange, isn't it? She was so different on the train, I actually liked her!"

Emma remembered the talk they'd had almost six months ago, on Halloween. Regina had said that she couldn't be friends with Robin because he was a Hufflepuff, and that the hat had wanted to make her one, too.

"Maybe it's her family", she said carefully, not wanting to betray the Slytherin's trust. "I mean, look at them. Where was she supposed to learn how to be friendly?"

Robin nodded thoughtfully. "It must be hard to live with them. Honestly, I think I'd rather have no family at all than someone like… oh, sorry, I didn't mean…"

Emma shrugged. "It's okay. You don't have to treat me with kid gloves all the time, I'm fine. I know that I don't have a family, I won't start crying every time you point it out."

"Still, I… I shouldn't have said that. She probably loves them. I mean, despite all, they're her family. Anyway, I really should be going. I'm probably the only Hufflepuff not drowning in a pile of work right now."

"Shame on you", Emma said with a smile.

She left the castle, finally stepping into the sun. She sat next to Ruby and Ariel, another Gryffindor girl.

"Oh, Emma. Glad to see you escaped", Ruby said sleepily.

"You're gonna get sunburned", Emma warned her.

"Good. Then I won't have to write the exams."

"I wish we were allowed to swim in the lake!" Ariel said. "It would be nice to cool off a little."

"Well, I don't really want to get near that squid."

Emma shuddered. She had seen it once. Well, a tentacle, anyway. It had been enough. That thing must be _enormous_.

"Oh, look!" Ruby said suddenly, sitting up. "There's that hot Slytherin, what's his name, Pan?"

Emma turned to where she was pointing.

"He's talking to Professor Mills", Ariel observed. "Do you think he's getting punished for putting on that show? McGonagall didn't seem amused…"

"McGonagall is _never_ amused", Ruby pointed out.

"Mills is not McGonagall. I don't think he's being punished."

Emma frowned. What did they have to discuss?

Pan suddenly looked in her direction. She quickly averted her gaze, but it was too late. He started walking towards them. He seemed more serious than usual.

When he reached them, he leaned down to Emma.

"Have you seen Killian?" he asked.

"No", she answered, feeling uneasy.

"Well, he's probably in his common room. Thanks anyway."

He stalked off and Emma followed him with his gaze until he disappeared inside the castle. Why was he so interested in Killian?

Before she could think of an explanation, Professor French came out of the castle. He put his wand to his throat and started speaking. His voice was well audible even from afar.

"All students are to return to their common rooms now and wait for their house teachers."

He waited for them to get up and walk past him, all confused and nervous.

What was happening? They had never had instructions like that! They barely saw the headmaster outside the Great Hall at all.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" Ruby asked next to her.

Emma shook her head. When they walked up the stairs, August grabbed her arm. The Ravenclaw's face was lacking his usual smile, and he seemed tense.

"Have you heard?" he asked. "Someone is supposed to have died."

* * *

 **Are you guys still alive after yesterday's episode? As a devoted Captain Swan shipper, I'm glad Killian's back, and I loved the reuinion, but my heart goes out to all the Robin/OQ fans. So I really needed to assure you and myself that, as you can see, he's alive and well in the Once goes Hogwarts universe. That is, if he isn't the dead one, of course (evil laughter).  
**


	11. We Are One

**Yeah, I'm still here. Guess you already gave up on me. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! You have no idea how encouraging it is to see that people enjoy reading your story! I know it's been ages since the last chapter, and I'm really sorry. I've just been so busy lately, moving to another country, starting uni and stuff... Anyway, this chapter is a bit slow and lots of speech, but it's kinda necessary and on the bright side, it gives more inside into the character's dynamics... I've kept you waiting long enough, enjoy ;)**

* * *

"Mary Margaret?" Emma asked quietly, knocking on the door to the girl's dormitory. When she didn't answer, she exchanged a look with Ruby, who was standing next to her.

"We're coming in", she called before opening the door.

Mary Margaret was lying on her bed, her head buried in her pillow, and sobbing uncontrollably. Snow, her snowy owl, sat next to her and hooted in alarm.

Emma and Ruby stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. They sat down each side of the bed, waiting in silence for a while, both waiting for the other to start speaking.

Ruby was the first to clear her throat.

"I'm so sorry", she whispered, gently touching the brunette's shoulder.

Emma wanted to say something, too, but she didn't know what. There was nothing she could say that would make her friend feel better about losing her mother. Instead she just reached for her hand, gently rubbing her palm.

"W-who would do this?" Mary Margaret sobbed. "What did she ever do to deserve this?"

"Nothing!" Ruby said firmly. "Whoever did this had no soul. She was the kindest person I ever met!"

There was a single knock at the door. Emma got up and carefully opened it. It was Professor McGonagall, her face serious as usual, although her eyes shone suspiciously.

"I would like to talk to Miss Blanchard", she said.

Nodding, Emma let her in. The professor went up to the bed.

"Your father has arrived. He would like to see you", she announced, her voice unusually kind.

Mary Margaret nodded, still sobbing into her pillow. McGonagall hesitated.

"I am truly sorry for your loss", she added before leaving.

"It was an enemy of the Ministry", August said as a matter-of-fact. "They wanted to weaken the Minister of Magic, so they killed his wife."

They had found a relatively quiet spot in the Great Hall. The castle had been locked down and Liam and Clarice, the Head Girl, controlled every student that entered or left. The air was full of tension, everyone stuck to the people they knew and was now quietly talking about what had happened.

"But how could they get into the castle and _kill_ someone without anyone noticing?" Belle asked.

August lowered his voice. "Maybe they didn't have to sneak in. Maybe they were already here. It could be one of the teachers, or maybe the older students."

"That's ridiculous!" Robin said. "There is no way that a person like that would go unnoticed."

"Really, August, now is not the time for your conspiracy theories!" Elsa agreed.

"I don't know", Emma said thoughtfully. "What if it was Mills?"

She trusted every professor she knew, except the Potions teacher. There was something very cold and calculating about her, and she had a feeling she wouldn't hesitate to do anything if it helped her reach her goals.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's capable of murder", Killian agreed darkly.

August cleared his throat and looked behind Emma. She turned around.

"Regina!" she exclaimed in surprise, hoping the Slytherin hadn't overheard them talking about her mother.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for Mary Margaret", the brunette said, looking at the floor. "It must be horrible for her to lose her mother like that."

"Yeah", Emma said. "She's with her dad right now, they're probably grieving together."

She budged to make space, and to her surprise Regina joined them.

"So, do you have any theories on what could have happened?"

Killian and Emma exchanged a look. They couldn't exactly tell her they were suspecting her mother.

"We thought that it was most likely not personal. Professor Blanchard never hurt a fly. So maybe someone wanted to hurt her husband", Robin said carefully.

Regina nodded. "I agree. That sounds like the most likely scenario. Does anyone know how she was killed?"

They all shook their heads.

"Dammit. That could have been a clue. If we knew what king of spell was used…"

 _Or potion?_ Emma thought to herself.

"No one said she was killed by magic. What if she was stabbed?" David said.

"Do you think it could have been Pan?" Killian suddenly asked. "He's a prefect of your house, you might know him better than we do. Something about him is definitely off."

"I don't trust him as far as I can throw him", Regina immediately said. "But murder? I don't know. And what would he get out of it, anyway? He's way too young to become Minister of Magic or anything like that."

"You're right", Killian sighed. "It probably wasn't him."

"It's pointless", Emma stated. "As long as we don't know what happened, all we're making are blind guesses."

"I doubt that they will give us the details", Elsa sighed. "We're just students. They will try to figure it out, and when they've found the murderer, maybe they'll consider telling us."

"They _have_ to tell us!" Robin said. "She was our teacher, we should know!"

"And even if we don't, they can't keep it secret from Mary Margaret. It's her mother, after all."

Emma threw a look at the door, waiting for Ruby to finally arrive and tell her how their friend was doing. She had accompanied Mary Margaret to French's office, where her father was waiting. But the brunette was nowhere to be seen.

"We should figure it out", August said. "If all of us worked together, we could solve this mystery!"

"We're first years!" Elsa reminded him. "What are we gonna do? Confront the murderer?"

"No, of course not, just hear me out! They divide us into four houses, right? One for intelligence, one for valor, one for loyalty, and one for ambition. We have members of all four houses here, that means we all think differently, right? But we will need all those traits to succeed!"

Robin grinned. "And that, my friend, is why you are in Ravenclaw!"

"Sounds like a good plan", Emma agreed. "We should also let Ruby in, she'll want to help."

David nodded. "But don't tell Mary Margaret, she's been through enough."

"You are… crazy!" Regina said. "We can't just run around trying to solve a murder, we… this could be illegal!"

"So what?" Killian exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. "Regina, Mary Margaret's mother was killed! Who cares if it's illegal, someone has to find a murderer! We're first years, the murderer won't think we pose a threat, so it might be easier for us to find them then it is for the adults! They're not gonna throw us out, and even if they do find out, don't you think a few hours of detention are worth it?"

His cheeks were red and he was a little out of breath, because he had spoken so fast. Emma frowned. She agreed that it was a good cause, but why was he so passionate about it?

"My mother is a teacher here! She's the head of my house!" Regina snapped. "If I get caught breaking rules with you guys, I will be in real trouble!"

"What, do you think hanging out with other houses will hurt your Slytherin pride?" David snorted.

Emma could see Regina clench her jaw. She remembered the conversation they had had half a year ago, about her mother's beliefs and the Sorting Hat.

"It's for a good cause", she said softly.

Regina nodded, taking a deep breath.

"You're right… I'm in. We just… we can't keep meeting in a group this big. It's suspicious."

"We'll figure it out."

"Can't you ask your father?" Regina asked Belle. "He's the headmaster, he must know!"

"I'm sure he knows, and I can ask him, but I doubt he would tell me", Belle sighed. "He wants to protect me from any potential source of harm, ever since my mother died."

"Your mother is dead, too?" David asked.

Belle shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Yeah, she died a long time ago."

Emma threw a glance at Killian, who was staring at the ground. She looked at the people around her and suddenly realized that they all had their scars. She didn't even know her parents, Killian and Elsa had lost theirs. David had lost his father, Belle her mother, and while Regina had two parents and a sister, she clearly suffered at home.

And suddenly, for the first time in her life, she felt like not knowing her parents wasn't the worst curse.

At least she couldn't lose them.


	12. Going Home

"Wingardium Leviosa", Killian mumbled, flicking his wrist at the feather. It promptly lifted into the air, hovering right in front of Professor Hopper's delighted face.

"Wonderful, just wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Excellent."

Killian maneuvered the feather back onto the desk, nervously licking his lips. Charms was his last exam, and after that, he'd finally be done.

"That's it for this exam, Mr. Jones. You can go now." Hopper gently put a hand on his shoulder and led him to the door. He hesitated before letting him out. "Really, well done", he repeated with a smile.

After he had disappeared back in the classroom, Killian quirked an eyebrow. "Well, that was easy", he mumbled under his breath.

The floors were unusually empty and quiet, as most students were either taking an exam or revising everything last-minute. Those that he did see hurried past him with their books clutched to their chest, eyes on the ground, or sat on the floor, silently practicing spells.

The practical exams were held in alphabetical order, and it would take a while until Emma was finished. Not knowing what else to do, he walked up the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower. Maybe he could convince August to play a round of chess.

On his way he heard an explosion a few floors under him, but he barely flinched. In the last weeks he had gotten used to students practicing and failing at spells, and explosions were quite common anyway.

When he reached the door and saw August and Elsa standing in front of it, he inwardly groaned. Not again! August waved at him and he reluctantly came closer.

The dark door at the end of the staircase didn't have a knob or keyhole, only a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. At first he had found it really beautiful, but after a while it had started annoying him.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

"Leprechaun Gold", August mumbled.

Elsa sighed. "Four sacks of Leprechaun Gold and one of galleons, we don't know which is which. We can only take one. We don't have time to wait for it to disappear. Leprechaun Gold is slightly lighter than real galleons and there is an enchanted stone that will tell us the weight of what we put on it, but only once. How do we find out where the galleons are?"

Killian shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Just bring a Leprechaun, he'll know. Can't we go in already?"

The knocker came to life. "Patience is a virtue", it croaked before freezing again.

Killian leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. This wouldn't do, they had to come up with something.

"Galleons weigh about 1.98 grams and Leprechaun Gold 2 grams", August mumbled. "But if we weigh one sack and it's the wrong one…"

"And we don't know how many coins are in a sack, they might not have equal amounts", Elsa threw in.

"We could count them, that's not the problem."

"The difference is not big enough to be felt, and we can only weigh one item", Killian reasoned. "We can't just guess. We have to weigh all of them."

"All of them?" Elsa asked. "Why? How would that help us?"

"No, he's onto something", August said slowly. "If they have different amounts…"

"…we can calculate which one has the real money", she finished.

"Why not make it even easier. We take one coin from the first sack, two from the second, and so on."

"And if the weight ends with an 8, it's the first sack, if it's a 6 it's the second… that would work! Well done, Jones, you should start a career as a pirate!"

They turned to the knocker and the door swung open without any further comment. When they passed it, Killian couldn't help but stretch his out tongue at the bronze eagle.

* * *

When the door closed behind her, Emma triumphantly punched the air. "Yes!" she whispered. Finally done with all the exams!

She wished Ariel good luck as she passed her on the floor and hurried down the stairs. She just wanted to get outside and lay in the sun and do nothing. As she hurried down the stairs she almost tripped over a fluffy brown ball of fur and stopped with a smile.

"Leia, what are you doing here?" She bent down to pet the cat.

She had grown a lot in the past nine month and could hardly be considered a kitten anymore. Now she affectionately rubbed her head against her hand and purred. Suddenly she flinched back and pretended to bite her. Emma rolled her eyes. Cats.

"Hey, where's Killian? Can you find him? I'll be at the lake", she said to her.

The cat looked at her disdainfully before turning around and strutting away, tail high in the air.

For some reason Emma felt like animals in the magic world understood humans. Whenever she told Charlie to get a letter to Killian he did, and even when she told him she wouldn't be back before dark, he seemed to wait for her. And Leia had often helped her find Killian. Now was the time to test whether she would lead him to her.

She left the building and stretched out her arms, taking in the sun. Finally she was free and could do nothing but relax, enjoying these beautiful days! She obviously wasn't the only one at the lake, but she easily spotted Mary Margaret and Ruby, who waved her closer.

"We're freeeeeee!" Ruby exclaimed when as she made their way to them, laughingly pulling her down to sit with them.

"So how was it?" Mary Margaret asked. The petite brunette had been excluded from the exams due to her recent loss, much to her dismay. She probably would have liked the distraction.

Emma shrugged. "It was okay. I'm not sure about the written ones, though, I think I confused goblins with elves."

"Emma!" Mary Margaret scolded her. "We revised that yesterday!"

"I know, I know, but cut me some slack. I'm not from this world! This is still a little confusing to me, ok? I think I did alright overall."

"That's all that matters. After all, these aren't our O.W.L.'s", Ruby cheered her up.

"What… never mind. I don't want to know."

Emma leaned back and stretched out on the grass, with her face in the shadow of a tree.

"You know what, I don't even want to hear the word 'exam' anymore."

"Fine, then let's talk about the summer. What are you guys up to during the break?"

"Ruby", Mary Margaret hissed, and from the corner of her eye Emma saw the brunette nodding at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Guys, I'll be fine. You don't need to feel bad about it."

"So, this new home that you're going to… how bad can it be?" Ruby asked carefully, catching up to what Mary Margaret wanted to tell her.

"As long as I get two meals a day and a little bit of privacy, I'm happy, really."

This was a lie. Of course it was, and they all knew it. She would miss Hogwarts and her friends like she had never missed anything before. Now that she knew what it felt like to have a home…

"You should come visit me, both of you", Ruby said. "Granny would love to meet you. She can be a bit grumpy at times, but she'll make it up to you with her lasagna and burgers."

"I don't think I should go away this summer", Mary Margaret said quietly. "My father will surely like to have me around."

"Yeah, sure", Ruby mumbled, before they fell into an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

"Check mate", August said, triumphantly watching his queen pointing her sword at his opponent's king.

"I guess", Killian sighed. "Good game though."

"Again?"

"Maybe later. I want to see if Emma's already done with her exams."

"Oh, of course", August teased. "Your girlfriend is top priority. I understand that."

Killian glared at him. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Of course she isn't. That's why you baked cakes for her birthday, right?"

He scratched his ear. "Guess what, friends can do that for each other, too. Anyway, nice playing with you."

He collected his figures in a box and got to his feet. After he had stored it away, he headed towards the exit. Surely, with the weather being this good, Emma would be outside.

As he opened the door he was greeted with a loud _meow_ and looked down. There was Leia, staring up at him with her yellow eyes.

"Do you wanna come in?" he asked, but the cat didn't move. "I'm going outside, you can come with me, if you want."

She turned around, beating her tail and looking back at him.

"Hey, Jones, wait!" August said, coming up to him. He lowered his voice. "Maybe we should meet again, to talk about you-know-what. Belle's over there, and if Swan's outside I'm sure she's with Lucas…"

"And Blanchard", Killian reminded him. "Maybe not right now, just after the exams. How about tomorrow? I'll ask them."

August shrugged. "Fine."

"Are you going outside, boy?" the knocker croaked. "If not, would you mind closing the door?"

"Patience is a virtue", Killian mumbled, following his cat and slamming the door behind him, effectively shutting up the eagle.

* * *

They all sat in the train, squeezed into the same cabin they had met in almost a year ago. Regina wasn't there, she had preferred to stay with her Slytherin friends, and August had taken her seat. While everyone was cheerfully chatting with each other, Emma rested her head on the window, watching Hogsmeade and everything magical disappear behind them.

"Kinda weird, huh?" Killian mumbled. He gave her a crooked smile, and she just nodded, stroking Charlie's feathers through the bars of his cage.

She couldn't take him with her to her new foster home, she already knew that. Pets were never allowed. She'd wanted to leave him at Hogwarts at first, but Killian had offered to take him for the summer. He'd promised to send her tons of messages so she would see him and could keep in touch with her friends. He just couldn't stay in her room, that was it.

She looked at the people around her and realized how much had changed in the past year. In September, when she had boarded the train, they'd all been strangers to her. And now they were her family, and she couldn't imagine having to spend the summer without them.

"Who wants to play exploding snap?" Robin asked loudly. They were in a good mood, looking forward to seeing their families.

When the woman with the trolley came, they again bought lots of sweets that they shared, comparing and trading chocolate frog cards and guessing bean flavors. But although they made Emma laugh, she couldn't shake of the sadness she felt at the thought of what lay ahead.

When she left platform 9 ¾ and stepped through the barrier to the real world, she felt like all the magic she had lived in the last year was sucked out of her. She took a deep breath and mentally reminded herself to draw a read circle around September, 1st on her calendar. _Just for the summer._


End file.
